Judge orders rewrite of Florida property-tax amendment language

A Leon County Circuit Court judge ruled Aug. 3 that the ballot title and summary for Florida Amendment 3 were “clearly and conclusively defective” and had to be rewritten before voters see them in their current form. For Seminole County homeowners, the ruling could shape what relief reaches monthly tax bills, while county leaders watch for any change that could ripple through school funding, deputies, firefighters and other services.

The measure is listed in state records as “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes,” and Florida Politics said the judge described the wording as “more akin to a political slogan” than neutral ballot language. Jones Walker LLP said the dispute was folded into consolidated cases 2026 CA 1254, 2026 CA 1405 and 2026 CA 1381. Under Florida law, constitutional amendments need at least 60% voter approval, which makes the exact wording on the ballot unusually important.

The state initiative database says Amendment 3 would exempt the first $250,000 of a homestead’s value from taxation for all levies other than school district levies. That kind of change would land differently in Seminole County, where the property appraiser said the 2026 just, or market, value reached $91,837,889,863, up 5.26%, and where the county ranks sixth in Florida in taxable value per square mile. Seminole County officials unveiled a proposed $1.3 billion budget for fiscal 2026-27 on June 9, a spending plan that has to cover public safety, infrastructure and day-to-day county operations.

The local stakes are not abstract. In June 2025, Seminole County commissioners were already weighing a property-tax increase to keep essential services funded, and Sheriff Dennis Lemma asked for $16 million more as the county considered tax hikes. By Sept. 23, 2025, Seminole County had approved its first property-tax hike in 16 years. Any statewide amendment that weakens the property-tax base would hit that same budget fight, with pressure falling on county services, school operations and public safety spending.

The legal fight is not over. On Aug. 5, Attorney General James Uthmeier said his team was taking a “hard look” at the court’s demand for revised language, leaving open the possibility of a new draft, another legal challenge or a political reset before the 2026 campaign fully hardens. Florida’s property-tax debate has already moved from Tallahassee into county budget rooms, and in Seminole County the next version of the proposal could matter as much for household bills as for the officials who have to balance them.