Here’s what Amendment 3 means for your wallet. If your Lee, Collier or Charlotte homestead is assessed above $250,000, Florida TaxWatch estimated savings of about $1,035 in 2027 and about $2,085 a year starting in 2028, using the statewide average rate. Your number depends on your local millage. School taxes don’t change, and if you move here after Dec. 31, 2026, you wait until your fifth homestead year for the bigger break.
Now the other side of the ledger. The Florida Association of Counties estimated Lee loses about $240 million in the second year, Collier about $121 million, Charlotte about $105 million. State economists put Cape Coral’s hit at $56.9 million in 2029. About 62% voted yes statewide, with 60% needed. Charlotte went 74% yes, Collier 70%, Lee 69%.
So local governments have to cut or find the money somewhere else, and TaxWatch notes nothing stops them from raising millage within legal limits. If Lee County has to make up roughly $240 million, what should go first?
Information for this story comes from 92.5 Fox News Fort Myers