What Amendment 3 Means for Your Property Tax Bill: A $300,000 Homestead Could Save About $700 to $1,140 in 2027 in Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Amendment 3 passed on Nov. 3, and the question most Northeast Florida homeowners now have is simple: how much will it save me? The answer depends on two numbers that are printed on every property tax notice, the home's assessed value and the non-school millage rate where the home sits. This guide works through estimated savings for homesteads in Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau counties using each county's current rates, and explains who will not see a cut.

All dollar figures below are estimates made by the Jax Times, not official calculations. They assume today's millage rates stay the same in 2027 and 2028, which is not guaranteed because local governments set new rates every September. Your actual savings will depend on your exact taxing district, your assessed value and any other exemptions you already receive.

What the amendment actually changes

The amendment raises the homestead exemption for all non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, then adjusts it for inflation after that, according to News4JAX. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. School taxes are excluded, so the existing $25,000 exemption still applies to the school portion of the bill.

Today, a homestead gets about $50,000 off non-school taxes: a $25,000 exemption on all taxes plus a second exemption of roughly $25,000 that applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000 and has been adjusted for inflation since 2025. The new exemption replaces that with the first $150,000, then the first $250,000, of assessed value. For a home assessed at $300,000, that means about $100,000 more is shielded from non-school taxes in 2027 and about $200,000 more in 2028.

The rates used in these estimates

Jacksonville kept its city rate at 11.1919 mills for 2026-27, Jacksonville Today reported. St. Johns County held its rates flat at its Sept. 15 budget hearing, News4JAX reported, and the St. Johns figure leaves out the Anastasia Mosquito Control District and other small special districts, so real savings there will be slightly higher. Clay rates are the 2025-26 adopted rates reported to the Florida Department of Revenue.

Estimated yearly savings in 2027

Estimated yearly savings in 2028

Estimates by the Jax Times: added exempt value times the non-school millage. They are not official figures and assume rates do not change.

Savings stop growing once a home's assessed value passes the exemption amount, which is why a $300,000 home and a $600,000 home save the same dollar amount. A home assessed at $100,000 already pays no non-school taxes in 2027 under the new exemption, so it gains nothing more in 2028. In Fernandina Beach, where city taxes push the non-school rate to about 11.77 mills, a $300,000 homestead would save roughly $1,177 in 2027 by the same math.

The Duval County Property Appraiser estimated a larger figure, $1,632 in 2027 and $2,674 in 2028, for a median homestead valued at $290,000, according to News4JAX. That report did not explain the office's assumptions, and the difference shows how much the method matters. Homeowners can look up their own assessed value on their county property appraiser's website or their August TRIM notice.

Who does not benefit

Renters get no exemption of their own, because the homestead exemption only applies to an owner's permanent residence. Second homes, rental houses, vacant land and commercial property also do not qualify for the larger exemption. Those non-homestead properties do get a smaller annual cap on assessment increases for non-school taxes, which falls from 10% to 5%, according to News4JAX.

New arrivals face a waiting period. People who are not Florida residents on Dec. 31, 2026, receive the existing exemption when they first qualify and become eligible for the larger one in their fifth year of receiving a homestead exemption, according to the ballot summary as reported by News4JAX. School taxes, which make up about 6 mills of each bill in these counties, do not change at all under the amendment.

The March 1 deadline

The larger exemption only helps homeowners who have a homestead exemption in the first place. To qualify for 2027, a buyer must own and live in the home as a permanent residence on Jan. 1, 2027, and file with the county property appraiser by March 1, 2027. The Jax Times has published step-by-step filing guides for Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties.

Savings from the change should first appear on 2027 tax bills, which Florida tax collectors typically mail in November. Local governments will set 2027 millage rates next summer and fall, and a rate increase would shrink these estimates. Homeowners who want the most accurate number should plug their own assessed value into the formula once the 2027 rates are adopted.