We have to vote in a tax break for those in Florida including us. A third homestead exemption will be voted on and 60% of yes votes on the ballot will pass it.
(2018)
Florida Amendment 1
Election date
November 6, 2018Topic
Taxes and
PropertyStatus
On the ballotType
Constitutional amendmentOrigin
State legislature
Florida Amendment 1, the
Homestead Exemption Increase Amendment, is on the
ballot in
Florida as a
legislatively referred constitutional amendment on
November 6, 2018.
A
"yes" vote supports exempting the portion of home values between $100,000 and $125,000 from property taxes other than school taxes, bringing the maximum homestead exemption up to $75,000.
A
"no" vote opposes exempting the portion of home values between $100,000 and $125,000 from property taxes other than school taxes, keeping the maximum homestead exemption at $50,000.
Overview
Amendment design
Amendment 1 would provide for a homestead exemption on the portion of home values between $100,000 and $125,000, meaning the $25,000 between $100,000 and $125,000 of a home's value would be exempted from property taxes other than school district taxes. As of 2018,
Section 6(a) of Article VII of the
Florida Constitution provides for a homestead exemption on the portion of home values between (a) $0 and $25,000 and (b) $50,000 and $75,000.
[1] If voters approve Amendment 1, the homestead exemption for a home valued at $200,000 would be $75,000. If voters reject Amendment 1, the homestead exemption for a home valued at $200,000 would remain at $50,000.
Text of the measure
Ballot title
The ballot title is as follows:
[1]
“ INCREASED HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.
[2]
”
Ballot summary
The ballot summary is as follows:
[1]
“ Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution to increase the homestead exemption by exempting the assessed valuation of homestead property greater than $100,000 and up to $125,000 for all levies other than school district levies. The amendment shall take effect January 1, 2019.
[2] ”
Constitutional changes
See also: Article VII, Florida Constitution The measure would amend
Section 6(a) of Article VII of the
Florida Constitution. The measure would also add a section to the Florida Constitution's
Article XII Schedule. The following
underlined text would be added, and struck-through text would be deleted:
[1]
ARTICLE VII FINANCE AND TAXATION SECTION 6. Homestead exemptions.—
(a) Every person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, or another legally or naturally dependent upon the owner, shall be exempt from taxation thereon, except assessments for special benefits, up to the assessed valuation of twenty-five thousand dollars and, for all levies other than school district levies, on the assessed valuation greater than fifty thousand dollars and up to seventy-five thousand dollars,
and on the assessed valuation greater than one hundred thousand dollars and up to one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, upon establishment of right thereto in the manner prescribed by law. The real estate may be held by legal or equitable title, by the entireties, jointly, in common, as a condominium, or indirectly by stock ownership or membership representing the owner's or member's proprietary interest in a corporation owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of ninety-eight years. The exemption shall not apply with respect to any assessment roll until such roll is first determined to be in compliance with the provisions of section 4 by a state agency designated by general law. This exemption is repealed on the effective date of any amendment to this Article which provides for the assessment of homestead property at less than just value.
ARTICLE XII SCHEDULE SECTION 37. Increased homestead exemption.—
SECTION 37. Increased homestead exemption.—This section and the amendment to Section 6 of Article VII increasing the homestead exemption by exempting the assessed valuation of homestead property greater than $100,000 and up to $125,000 for all levies other than school district levies shall take effect January 1, 2019.[2]
Readability score
See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018 Using the
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and
Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 17, and the FRE is -18.2. The word count for the ballot title is 5, and the estimated reading time is 1 second. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 13.5, and the FRE is 33. The word count for the ballot summary is 39, and the estimated reading time is 10 seconds.
For the
2017 ballot, the average ballot question required 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education) to read and comprehend, according to the FKGL formula.
Support
Supporters
Arguments
- Florida State Sen. Tom Lee (R-20), who voted yes on the bill in the Senate, said, "Making homes more affordable, we’re going to allow people to move from rental units back into homes. And in doing so, it’s going to give us the ability to generate revenue for doc stamps, the tangible tax and a whole host of other things that go along with home ownership.”[3]
Opposition
Opponents
- The Florida League of Cities, which describes itself as "the united voice for Florida’s municipal governments ... to serve the needs of Florida's cities and promote local self-government."[4]
- The Florida City and County Management Association[5]
- League of Women Voters of Florida[6]
- Florida Policy Institute[6]
- Progress Florida[6]
- Florida Education Association[6]
- Florida Association of Counties[6]
Arguments
- The League of Women Voters of Florida stated, "The League has a position that no tax sources or revenue should be specified, limited, exempted, or prohibited in the Constitution."[6]
- Putnam County Property Appraiser Tim Parker said "It’s kind of estimated that about 50 percent of the state would benefit from it. But remember, when someone benefits, someone has to pick up the tab."[7]
Florida League of Cities made the following arguments:
[8]
“
Amendment 1 Picks Winners and Losers With Amendment 1, most benefits go to only a handful of homeowners. That's not fair. Florida's tax system should work for all homeowners, across the board-not just a few.
Amendment 1 Means Higher Taxes for Millions of Floridians Amendment 1 isn't what it seems. The politicians call it a tax break, but it's really a tax SHIFT that will leave millions of hardworking homeowners with a bigger share of the property tax burden.
Amendment 1 Doesn't Fix Florida's Tax System -- It Makes it Worse Florida's property tax system is a complicated mess and Amendment 1 makes it worse, more complicated and less fair-shifting a bigger burden onto small business owners, manufacturers and working families.
[2]
”
Campaign advertisements
The following video was released by the
Florida League of Cities:
[9]
Title: "Amendment 1 :What You Need to Know"
Media editorials
Support
Ballotpedia has not yet found any editorial board endorsements in support of this measure. If you know of one, please email
editor@ballotpedia.org.
Opposition
- Sun Sentinel said, "Florida lawmakers want to put a couple hundred dollars back in the pockets of homeowners. The money will be tempting to take. But given the big public problems facing our state, you'd be wise to resist this election-year gimmick."[10]
- Tampa Bay Times said, "That would exacerbate the inequities in Florida's tax code and cost millions that local governments need for basic services such as parks, libraries and public safety. ... This constitutional amendment is unnecessary, and it is nothing more than an attempt to curry election-year favor with voters."[11]
Campaign finance
Total campaign contributions: Support: $0.00 Opposition: $0.00 See also: Campaign finance requirements for Florida ballot measures As of July 21, 2018, Ballotpedia had not identified any ballot measure committees registered in support of the measure or in opposition to the measure.
[12] If you are aware of any committees registered in support of or in opposition to the measure, please email
editor@ballotpedia.org.
Polls
The following poll was conducted by Cherry Communications and commissioned by the Florida Chamber of Commerce to gauge voter support and opposition toward the amendments on
Florida's 2018 ballot. A total of 605 likely voters were polled, including 237 Republicans, 249 Democrats, and 119 others.
[13]
[hide]
Support and Opposition for Amendment 1 Poll Support OpposeUndecidedMargin of errorSample size
Florida Chamber of Commerce Poll
5/25/18 - 6/2/18 67%22%11%+/-4.0605
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. Background
Homestead exemption
Voting on taxes 
Ballot measures By state By year Not on ballot [show]
Local
Flordia's first homestead exemption was approved in 1934, when voters approved
Amendment 2. The exemption was intended to help residents keep their homes during the Great Depression, according to Steve Bousquet, a reporter for the
Miami Herald.
[14] Amendment 2 exempted the portion of home values between $0 and $5,000 for residents of Florida.
In 1980, the Democratic-controlled
Florida State Legislature referred to the ballot
Amendment 1, which increased the homestead exemption from $5,000 to $25,000. Democratic Gov. Bob Graham also promoted the ballot measure. According to the
Associated Press, the increase resulted in a majority of homeowners in 20 of 67 counties, mostly located in northern Florida, not paying property taxes in 1981 because properties were assessed below the maximum exemption.
[15]
The homestead exemption for non-seniors remained the same until 2008, when voters approved a legislative referral also titled
Amendment 1. Amendment 1 of 2008 exempted the portion of home values between $50,000 and $75,000 from property taxes. Between the 1980 amendment and the 2008 amendment, homeowners were eligible to receive a $50,000 exemption on their homes—the amount between $0 and $25,000 and the amount between $50,000 and $75,000.
Fiscally-constrained counties
As of 2018, the
state constitution reserves the power to tax a property's value for local governments—such as counties, cities, school districts, and certain special districts—not the state government.
[16] Therefore, Amendment 1 of 2018 would impact the revenue of local governments, as these governments tax the value of properties and spend the revenue.
In Florida, counties that are considered fiscally-constrained counties—defined as rural counties and counties where a one mill levy would raise no more than $5 million annually—receive funds from the state government to offset decreases in revenue caused by certain homestead exemptions. House Bill 7107 (HB 7107), passed in 2017, would require the state legislature to provide funds to fiscally-constrained counties to offset decreases in property taxes caused by the passage of Amendment 1 of 2018.
[17] State fiscal analysis estimate that fiscally-constrained counties would have revenue loses around $10.5 million annually.
[16]
The following is a map of fiscally-constrained counties, as designated by the state for fiscal year 2016-2017:
Referred amendments on the ballot
From 1996 through 2016, the
state legislature referred 38 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 25 and rejected 13 of the referred amendments. All of the amendments were referred to the ballot for elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on even-year ballots was between three and four. In
2016, three referred amendments were on the ballot. The approval rate of referred amendments at the ballot box was 65.8 percent during the 20-year period from 1996 through 2016. The rejection rate was 34.2 percent.
Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2016 Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Annual average Annual median Annual minimum Annual maximum 38 25 65.79% 13 34.21% 3.45 3.00 0 11
Path to the ballot
See also: Amending the Florida Constitution In Florida, a constitutional amendment must be passed by a 60 percent vote in each house of the
state legislature during one legislative session.
The measure was introduced into the state legislature as House Joint Resolution 7105 (HJR 7105) on April 5, 2017. The
Florida House of Representatives approved the amendment, 81 to 35 with four members not voting, on April 26, 2017.
[18]
The
Florida Senate adopted an amendment to HJR 7105 on April 28, 2017. The amendment to the measure changed what portion of a home's value would be exempted. The original version of the measure increased the homestead exemption $25,000, which meant the exemption would have increased from $75,000 to $100,000 of a home's value. In other words, the amount between $50,000 and $100,000 of a home's value would have been exempted from property taxes other than school taxes. The amendment adopted by the Senate provided for a exemption on a home's value between $100,000 and $125,000. Therefore, a home valued at $150,000 would pay taxes on the amount between $25,000 and $50,000, the amount between $75,000 to $100,000, and the amount between $125,000 and $150,000.
[19] By making this change, the Senate decreased the estimated amount of municipal and county revenues that would be lost under the proposal by around $150 million. The original version of the bill would have decreased revenues by an estimated $750 million.
[20]
The Senate passed the amended ballot measure, 28 to 10 with one senator not voting, on May 1, 2017. One seat was vacant in the Senate at the time of the vote. As the Senate amended the bill, the House needed to approve the changes for the measure to be certified for the ballot.
[18]
On May 2, 2017, the
Florida House of Representatives passed the amended version of the measure in a vote of 83 to 35 with two members not voting. The measure was sent for enrollment on the same day.
[18]
On May 5, 2017, the measure was enrolled with the
secretary of state.
[18]
Vote in the Florida State Senate
May 1, 2017Requirement: Three-fifths (60 percent) vote of all members in each chamberNumber of yes votes required: 24 
YesNoNot votingTotal28101Total percent71.80%25.64%2.56%Democrat690Republican2211
Vote in the Florida House of Representatives
May 2, 2017Requirement: Three-fifths (60 percent) vote of all members in each chamberNumber of yes votes required: 72
YesNoNot votingTotal83352Total percent69.17%29.17%1.67%Democrat12290Republican716 2
How to vote
See also: Voting in Florida Poll times
In
Florida, all polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.
[21] Florida is split between Eastern and Central time zones.
Registration requirements
To vote in Florida, one must be at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a legal resident of Florida and the county in which he or she intends to vote.
[22]
Voters may retrieve registration applications at the following locations:
[22]
- Local elections offices
- Public assistance agencies
- Disability services agencies
- Independent living centers
- Military recruitment offices
- Public libraries
- Offices that issue driver's licenses
- Fishing and hunting license shops
A registration form is also available
online. The form can be printed and submitted via mail.
[22]
Registration forms must be completed at least 29 days prior to the election one wishes to vote in. Identification is required to register.
[22]
Online registration
See also: Online voter registration On May 15, 2015,
Governor Rick Scott (
R) signed into law SB 228, which authorized the creation of an online voter registration system in Florida. The legislation was passed by majorities in both chambers of the
Florida State Legislature: 109-9 in the
Florida House of Representatives and 37-3 in the
Florida State Senate.
[23][24] Online voter registration was first made available in October 2017.
[25]
Pam Carpenter, an elections administrator in Alachua County, said, "We are really pleased to see that the governor has gone ahead and signed this bill. I think it is going to be a real step forward for the citizens of Alachua County and the state of Florida. It’s another vehicle for the citizens to use to make registering a simpler process." Deirdre Macnab, president of the Florida League of Women Voters, said, "[Scott] did the right thing for Florida voters."
[23][24]
Although Scott ultimately signed the bill, he did express some concerns about the new law:
[23][24]
“ Cyberattacks are on the front pages almost every day, and fraud and identification theft issues arise whenever a new avenue for information transmittal is created. ... While these challenges exist, I am confident that the Department (of State) and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will act carefully and prudently in developing needed protection for citizen information.
[2] ” —Rick Scott
Voter ID requirements
Voters in Florida are required to present photo and signature identification on Election Day. If a voter's photo ID does not display his or her signature, he or she will need to supply a second form of identification that does.
State profile
This excerpt is reprinted here with the permission of the 2016 edition of the Almanac of American Politics and is up to date as of the publication date of that edition. All text is reproduced verbatim, though links have been added by Ballotpedia staff. To read the full chapter on Florida, click here.
On election night 2000, television journalist Tim Russert – seeing the close margins in the Sunshine State -- famously told viewers that the contest was coming down to "Florida, Florida, Florida." Ever since that interminable recount was decided by the Supreme Court, Florida has refused to give up its prized position in presidential politics, attracting countless candidate visits and siding with the winner every time, by margins between just one and five percentage points.
More than 500 years ago, in March 1513, the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León spied the coast of Florida. For the next 400 years, anyone sailing along Florida's 1,197 miles of coastline and 663 miles of beach would not have seen anything much different from what Ponce de Leon saw. But within the past century the state has been transformed, from a swampy, under-settled, mostly rural state of 1.5 million people (the smallest population in the South), to a metropolitan powerhouse of more than 20 million ...(
read more)
Demographic data for Florida FloridaU.S.Total population:
20,244,914316,515,021 Land area (sq mi):
53,6253,531,905Gender Female:
51.1%50.8%Race and ethnicity** White:
76%73.6% Black/African American:
16.1%12.6% Asian:
2.6%5.1% Native American:
0.3%0.8% Pacific Islander:
0.1%0.2% Two or more:
2.4%3% Hispanic/Latino:
23.7%17.1%Education High school graduation rate:
86.9%86.7% College graduation rate:
27.3%29.8%Income Median household income:
$47,507$53,889 Persons below poverty level:
19.8%11.3%Source:
U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) **
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. Presidential voting pattern
See also: Presidential voting trends in Florida Florida voted Republican in three out of the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for
Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for
Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these
Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Florida, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.
[26]
More Florida coverage on Ballotpedia
Related measures
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