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DeSantis Urges Passage of Amendment 3 as Support Trails

Recent polls plus early ballots place the $250,000 homestead-exemption proposal well below the 60% threshold required for passage.

Overview

  • With six days until Election Day, a St. Pete Polls survey shows 44% support, 39% opposition and 17% undecided, and ballots already cast lean against the amendment.
  • State economists estimate the change would cut local non-school property tax revenue by roughly $4.95 billion in the first year and about $11.86 billion once fully phased in, with no guaranteed state backfill.
  • Governor Ron DeSantis has stepped up in-person appeals and pledged the state could create grants to help 'bedroom' and fiscally constrained counties if the measure passes, but any aid would require quick legislative action.
  • Law enforcement groups, firefighters, at least eleven school board members and nonprofit leaders warn the revenue losses could force cuts to deputies, school resource officers, emergency preparedness and community programs.
  • Campaign finance is heavily tilted toward supporters, with the Florida Realtors-backed committee reporting more than $21 million raised, while county analyses show raw-dollar hits to big urban counties and much larger proportional losses in commuter and rural counties.