St. Johns County, Fla., has placed roughly $100 million of capital improvement projects on hold and set aside an extra $30 million in reserves while it waits to learn whether Florida voters will cut property taxes in November.
The county, which takes in St. Augustine and the fast-growing suburbs south of Jacksonville, described its preparations in a Sept. 11 announcement. The work began in May, before the measure known as Amendment 3 was placed on the Nov. 3 general election ballot, and has already shaped the county’s recommended budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
The numbers explain the caution. Citing the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research, the county said passage could reduce its property tax revenue by an estimated $68.3 million in fiscal 2028, $136.1 million in fiscal 2029 and $191.6 million by fiscal 2032.
“Preparing now allows us to make thoughtful decisions, protect essential services, avoid committing resources that may not be available in the future, and stay cognizant of any project that could add a recurring cost burden,” County Administrator Joy Andrews said in the announcement. “Our goal is to position St. Johns County to respond responsibly to whichever outcome our voters choose while continuing to serve our residents and protect the County’s long-term financial stability.”
What a county-level dry run looks like
The county said it takes no position for or against the amendment and that its job is to give residents facts and plan for either result. The review behind that planning was unusually granular: a service inventory covering 380 services across 18 departments, an examination of 1,137 existing fees plus several dozen proposed new ones, a legislative analysis of the state’s 2026 property tax reform package for county commissioners, and a department-by-department sorting of which services could still be funded from property tax revenue if the amendment passes.
That produced a list of spending the county has flagged for reassessment after the election: about $4 million tied to currently vacant positions, $2 million in fiscal 2027 positions not recommended for funding and $2.6 million in positions that were recommended but paused. The recommended budget also carries $31.2 million in emergency response reserves for hurricanes and other disasters, plus the separate $30 million general fund cushion earmarked for Amendment 3 exposure.
Capital projects were sorted in June under criteria set by the county administrator and the Capital Improvement Project Oversight Committee, which classified each as continue, pause or defer based on life-safety and legal requirements, outside grant funding, reliance on property taxes, how far along the work already was and the cost of stopping and restarting.
“Placing these projects on hold does not mean they have been canceled,” said Daniel Whitcraft, chair of the oversight committee. “This financially responsible approach gives us time to evaluate available funding, project priorities, and alternative revenue sources while also considering the recurring staffing, maintenance, and operating costs each completed project would create.”
What Amendment 3 would change
The measure would raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with annual inflation adjustments starting in 2029. Because the expanded exemption applies only to non-school levies, school funding would not be affected.
For investors and commercial owners, the more consequential piece is a change to assessment caps. The amendment would cut the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10% to 5%, covering rentals, second homes and commercial real estate. Florida Realtors, the state association, argues the lower cap would make carrying costs more predictable for owners of those properties and, in turn, for the tenants and businesses in them.
The amendment would also restrict what counties and municipalities may spend property tax revenue on, limiting it to public safety, schools, infrastructure, natural resources, debt payments, employee retirement benefits and government operations. It would require the Legislature to create a uniform process local governments could use to raise the homestead exemption further, up to a home’s full assessed value, and would let special districts grant additional relief with voter approval. People who are not Florida residents as of Dec. 31, 2026, would get the existing exemption once they qualify and become eligible for the expanded version in their fifth year.
The industry is campaigning for it
Florida Realtors launched a “Vote Yes on 3” campaign, announced Sept. 9, after its board of directors voted on Aug. 23 to endorse the measure. The campaign site explains the amendment’s provisions, who would qualify for the larger exemption and when the changes would take effect.
“Affordability is on the forefront for every Floridian, and they need meaningful relief,” said Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., the association’s 2026 president. “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.”
Getting there is not automatic. Florida constitutional amendments require at least 60% voter approval, and this one reached the ballot only after a court fight over its wording that ended with the attorney general issuing rewritten ballot language in August. If approved, the changes would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
St. Johns County commissioners hold a final budget adoption hearing on Sept. 15 at 5:01 p.m. and a town hall on the amendment on Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m., both in the county auditorium in St. Augustine. Whatever voters decide, the county says design work and limited site work may continue on paused projects so each can stop at the least disruptive point, and that the paused list will be reassessed after the election. For more on how tax policy is reshaping the housing market, see our continuing coverage.
