The Florida Non-Homestead Cap Calculator.

The other half of the amendment nobody is explaining.

The property tax amendment Florida voters approved on November 3, 2026 (Amendment 3) is best known for raising the homestead exemption. But the homestead exemption only helps primary residences. For the millions of Florida second homes, rentals, and investment properties, the real lever is the non-homestead assessment cap, and the amendment cuts it from 10 percent to 5 percent starting January 1, 2027 (Fox Business; propertyexemption.com).

The assessment cap limits how much your taxable value can rise in a single year, no matter how fast the market moves. Through the 2026 tax roll, a non-homestead property's assessed value can climb up to 10 percent a year. From the 2027 roll, the 5 percent cap holds that increase to half the pace when values are rising quickly. Over several years of a strong market, that gap compounds into a meaningfully lower taxable value, and a lower tax bill, than the 10 percent cap would have produced.

How this calculator works.

You enter your current assessed value, an assumed annual growth rate, your non-school millage, and a horizon. The tool grows your taxable value each year by the smaller of your growth rate and the cap, under both the 10 percent rule in place through 2026 and the 5 percent rule that applies from 2027, then applies your millage to each to estimate the annual tax. The difference, summed across the horizon, is the cumulative effect of the lower cap. Because the cap only binds when value rises faster than the cap rate, the tool will honestly show little or no difference in a slow market, and a growing gap in a fast one.

Two honest caveats.

First, the cap applies to non-school taxes. School district taxes are levied on full market value regardless of the cap, which is why the tool asks for your non-school millage rather than your total rate. Second, this is a projection built on an assumed growth rate, not a forecast of your actual assessment. Real assessed values are set by your county property appraiser each year. Pull your current assessed value and exact millage from your county property tax page, and use the investment property calculator for the full return picture.

Should you keep it non-homestead or convert?

If a property is actually your primary residence, or could be, the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes 3 percent cap are usually far stronger protections than the non-homestead cap. The decision depends on your residency, your other properties, and your plans. If you are weighing converting a second home to a primary residence, check the timing on the homestead deadline checker, because the expanded exemption has its own December 31, 2026 residency cutoff.

If your county raises the rate instead.

The 5 percent cap limits how fast your taxable value can grow. It does not limit the tax rate. Amendment 3 also takes a large slice of homestead value off the non-school rolls, and local officials are now saying out loud how they might respond. In Martin County, a preliminary staff analysis put the non-homestead increase needed to cover next year’s gap at about 19 percent, and fire rescue and stormwater fees on the tax bill were named as options; one commissioner doubted the board would go that far (WUSF/WQCS, Nov. 8, 2026). Jacksonville has said it is not considering new fees, and St. Johns County has said its goal is cuts rather than new fees (Jacksonville Today, Nov. 9; Nov. 11, 2026).

The scenario menu above lets you test that. It applies a higher non-school rate to every year from 2027 and compares the extra tax with what the lower cap saves. The break-even figure is the rate increase that would cancel the cap’s benefit over your horizon. In a slow market the cap saves little, so even a small rate increase leaves a non-homestead owner behind. Flat charges on the bill, such as trash, stormwater and fire assessments, are a separate line that no cap touches; pick a county to see the average in our county-by-county assessment study. No rate or fee change described here has been adopted.

Common questions.

Disclaimer: This calculator is an educational projection based on the inputs you provide and on Amendment 3 (CS/HJR 1F), approved by voters on November 3, 2026 per unofficial results and effective January 1, 2027. The assumed growth rate is not a forecast, the cap applies to non-school taxes only, and actual assessed values are set by your county property appraiser. This is not tax or investment advice. Confirm your assessed value and millage with your county property appraiser. Momentum Realty is a licensed real estate brokerage, not a tax advisor.