TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Realtors trade group is getting behind Amendment 3, the major property tax cut on the November ballot, putting $10 million to support the measure.
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“Affordability is on the forefront for every Floridian, and they need meaningful relief,” said Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., president of Florida Realtors, said in a released statement. “We’ve spent years working to help people buy homes. But buying the home is only half the challenge. We also need to make sure families can afford to keep the homes they worked so hard to purchase.”
The group put $10 million into the political committee Yes On 3 last week, campaign finance records show.
The amendment was placed on the ballot by the Legislature in a special session earlier this year, but Gov. Ron DeSantis spearheaded the push to offer a large property tax break to homeowners. He toured the state frequently for more than a year, decrying the concept of property taxes as “paying rent to the government” and admonishing cities and counties for taking in more than $20 billion more in revenues than they did six years earlier.
But the GOP-led Legislature tweaked his proposal before passing it, exempting the portion of the property tax bill that pays for K-12 schools from the large increase in the homestead exemption. DeSantis initially said he would vote for the measure but wouldn’t form a political committee and put his own sizeable campaign funds into supporting the proposal on the airwaves.
The move by the Realtors means Amendment 3 will get considerable backing, amid an heavy pushback from a variety of groups opposed to the measure. Many local government officials, especially from rural areas and small towns, have spoken out against the amendment, saying it would undercut their ability to provide basic services.
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“It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that real estate agents are spending millions in support of Amendment 3,” Edie Ousley, spokeswoman for the Vote No on 3 campaign, said in a released statement. “Their commission-driven business model involves one thing and one thing only: having more real estate transactions at higher prices.”
The Vote No on 3 group was founded by Chairman Bryan Desloge, a former Leon County Commissioner. Its political committee has raised nearly $150,000, including $100,000 from the Florida Association of Special Districts, which represents the 1,900 local taxing districts in the state funding fire control, mosquito control, hospitals and community development.
Amendment 3 would increase the homestead property tax exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, and it would rise to $250,000 in 2028. The 10 percent cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead properties would be lowered to 5 percent.
It needs 60 percent support from voters to pass into law.
“Floridians need a change,” Bonfiglio said. “This is an opportunity to provide meaningful relief now, while continuing the broader conversation around property taxes.”
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