Amendment 3 Passed: What It Means for Your Escrow, and Why Your Insurance Review Matters

Florida voters approved Amendment 3 on November 3, 2026, with about 62% of the vote in unofficial returns. That cleared the 60% a constitutional amendment needs. For most homeowners with a mortgage, the first question is a practical one: what happens to my monthly payment?

The short version is that your property taxes change starting with the 2027 tax year, your insurance premium doesn’t, and both run through the same escrow account. Below is what the amendment does, when you’ll see it, the exceptions that catch people off guard, and what it means if you own rentals or a business property. Facts are as of November 4, 2026, before the state certifies the results and before the Legislature passes the law that carries the amendment out.

What does Amendment 3 change?

Amendment 3 makes much more of a homestead’s value exempt from county, city and special district taxes, and it slows how fast the taxable value of non-homestead property can grow. It was placed on the ballot as CS/HJR 1-F, which the Legislature passed on June 2, 2026.

The $51,411 figure is the 2026 amount the Volusia County Property Appraiser gives for today’s combined exemption. Portability and the senior, veteran, widow or widower and disability exemptions aren’t changed, according to the Polk County Property Appraiser.

The amendment also lets local governments raise the exemption further for their own taxes, under a procedure the Legislature has to set by law, and it limits what counties and cities may spend property tax money on to a list of core needs such as public safety, infrastructure and flood control.

What Amendment 3 doesn’t do

The amendment changes taxable value, not tax rates. Several things on your bill stay the same or can still go up:

• School taxes. School districts aren’t part of the larger exemption. Your school taxes still use the $25,000 exemption.
• Millage rates. Each county, city and special district still sets its own rate every year.
• Non-ad valorem assessments. Fire, solid waste and stormwater charges aren’t reduced by the exemption, and they can rise or be added.
• Homes that already pay little. The Polk County Property Appraiser notes that owners whose homes are already fully exempt won’t see a direct benefit, while recent buyers, whose assessed values are closer to market value, may see more of one.

Polk County’s appraiser also says the 2027 proposed tax notice will likely show a “rolled-up rate” in place of today’s rolled-back rate. That’s the highest rate a taxing authority could set without bringing in more than the year before, leaving out new construction. Watch for it on your August 2027 notice.

When will my escrow payment change?

Most escrow payments won’t change until after the November 2027 tax bill. Your 2026 bill, mailed this month, is still figured under the old rules.

Here’s how the timing usually works for a homeowner with an escrow account:

1. August 2027: your county mails the proposed tax notice (TRIM notice) showing your taxable value under Amendment 3.
2. November 2027: the 2027 tax bill goes out, and your servicer pays it from escrow.
3. Your next escrow analysis: federal rules (Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.17) require your servicer to review your escrow account every year. It sets your new monthly escrow amount from your actual tax and insurance bills, plus a cushion of up to one-sixth of the year’s payments.
4. If there’s a surplus: when the analysis finds a surplus of $50 or more and you’re current on your payments, the servicer must refund it within 30 days.

The bigger step comes a year later, when the exemption reaches $250,000 for the 2028 tax year.

Why your escrow may not drop as much as you expect

Your escrow pays two big bills, property taxes and insurance, and only one of them is affected by Amendment 3. If your homeowners renewal goes up, or your lender starts requiring flood insurance, the tax savings can be partly or fully absorbed.

A few things to check when your escrow statement arrives:

• Your insurance renewal amount. Compare it with last year’s on your declarations page.
• Flood insurance. If your lender requires it, the premium usually runs through escrow too.
• A shortage from an earlier year. A shortage can be spread over at least 12 months, which can hide a tax drop.
• The cushion. The cushion is figured on your total yearly bills, so it moves with them.

Why your insurance review still matters

Amendment 3 doesn’t change your insurance premium. Homeowners insurance is priced on what it would cost to rebuild your home and on its risk: roof age, construction, location, deductible and wind mitigation features. Assessed value and taxable value aren’t part of it.

That’s also why a lower tax bill is no reason to lower your coverage. Your dwelling limit (Coverage A) should reflect rebuilding cost, which is often very different from the appraiser’s value. Our Florida homeowners insurance guide explains how that limit is set.

If you want your monthly payment to come down further, the insurance side is where an agent can help. A wind mitigation inspection may earn credits your policy isn’t getting, and comparing carriers at renewal may turn up a better price for the same coverage. Savings aren’t guaranteed, and they depend on the home and the carrier.

What Amendment 3 means for landlords and second homes

Rental homes and second homes aren’t homesteads, so they don’t get the larger exemption. What they get is a slower-growing assessment: from 2027, the assessed value used for non-school taxes can rise no more than 5% a year, down from 10%. School taxes on those properties stay uncapped and based on market value.

That matters for Polk County landlords and for snowbirds whose Florida home is a second home. Your taxes can still go up from millage changes and from the uncapped school portion, just more slowly than before on the non-school side.

Your landlord policy (often a DP-3 dwelling form) doesn’t change either. If you set your rent from your expected costs, put your insurance renewal next to the new tax estimate. Our landlord insurance guide covers what a DP-3 pays for, including lost rent after a covered loss.

What Amendment 3 means for commercial property

Commercial buildings get the same 5% cap on yearly increases in assessed value for non-school taxes. There’s no new exemption for commercial property.

If you lease space, check how your lease handles taxes and insurance. Many commercial leases pass both through to tenants, so the slower tax growth reaches tenants under the lease terms, while insurance costs keep following the building’s rebuilding cost and risk. A business owner’s building limit on a commercial property policy or businessowners policy should match what it would cost to rebuild, not the assessed value.

What to have ready for an insurance review

If you’d like us to look at the insurance side of your escrow, gather these before you start a quote:

1. Your current declarations page for each property.
2. Your most recent escrow statement from your mortgage servicer.
3. Your roof’s age or permit date, and any wind mitigation or 4-point inspection report.
4. For rentals: the number of units, whether they’re leased long term or short term, and your lease’s insurance requirements.
5. For commercial property: the building’s square footage, construction and occupancy, and what your leases say about taxes and insurance.

We can’t change your tax bill, and nothing about your coverage changes until a licensed agent confirms it with the carrier. What we can do is compare your current policy with other carriers’ options so the insurance side of your escrow is as low as your coverage needs allow.