The Associated Press called Florida Amendment 3 approved. Unofficial Florida Election Watch returns checked at 12:58 p.m. EST Nov. 4 showed 4,917,482 yes votes statewide, or 61.99%, above the 60% passage threshold. Jacksonville officials project the measure could leave the city with a $300 million annual revenue gap by fiscal year 2028-29.

The measure passed with 62% of the vote, clearing the 60% threshold required for a constitutional amendment, Jacksonville Today reported. It raises the homestead property tax exemption on non-school taxes from the current $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028.

For Mandarin homeowners, that means lower property tax bills starting next year. For the city, it means officials must now decide how to close a gap the City Council auditor has estimated at $300 million per year by fiscal year 2028-29, according to Jacksonville Today.

Council President Nick Howland told Jacksonville Today that the affordability crisis is real, with costs rising across the board. He said the council would respond and plan accordingly.

Mayor Donna Deegan said in a written statement to Jacksonville Today that the city would work with the council and the community to make adjustments, adding that priorities including public safety and affordability would not change.

Council member Tyrona Clark-Murray offered a blunter assessment on election night.

"The fight between what people need and what we're able to afford has just gotten harder," she said.

Statewide, billions at stake

Economists estimate the amendment will cut local property tax revenue across Florida by $4.9 billion in its first year, growing to $11.8 billion by 2031, The Florida Trib reported. Public safety is the largest budget item for many counties, taking about 85 cents of every property tax dollar, according to the Florida Association of Counties.

A 2025 Florida League of Cities analysis found that police, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) spending exceeds all property tax revenue in at least 176 Florida cities. That same analysis found 85 cities could not fund public safety at current levels under a $250,000 exemption.

The amendment's ballot language includes provisions directing how remaining property tax revenue should be spent, including for police, fire and EMS. But those provisions do not guarantee funding or say where it will come from, former Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes told The Florida Trib on election night.

Brandes wrote separately on X, according to Jacksonville Today: "The governor and the Legislature own what comes next."

What comes next

Local governments have three options, said Jared Walczak, a senior fellow at the Tax Foundation: cut spending, raise rates on remaining taxable property, or raise other taxes and fees. They will likely do some of all three, he told The Florida Trib.

Homeowners could also see higher fire assessments and transportation fees, Brandes said. Renters get no direct benefit, and the burden could shift to apartments and commercial property.

Holly Bullard, chief strategy and development officer for The Florida Policy Institute, told The Florida Trib the first effects will arrive in the 2027 tax year, but the full picture will take several years to emerge.

"It's an understandable response to an affordability crisis," Bullard said. "But we're going to have to have a broader conversation about how to not create a broader affordability crisis."

State Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville, who was vice chair of the select committee that led to Amendment 3, told Jacksonville Today he sees a path for cities to adjust. Mandarin is represented on the City Council by District 6 member Michael Boylan, who sits on the Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee.

The Florida Legislature will need to write implementing rules before the changes take effect. Walczak called the amendment one of the most significant property tax changes nationwide in decades.