When a buyer opens the tax history on a Rosemary Beach listing, the bill shown belongs to the seller. In Florida, the assessment used for a second home's non-school levies can rise only a limited amount each year while one person owns it. After a sale, the assessment resets to just value on the next January 1. Amendment 3 goes before Florida voters on November 3, 2026, and it would make that cap tighter. It would not remove the reset. For anyone about to buy a non-homestead property along the east end of 30A, the tax gap between owning for years and buying now would likely grow wider.
The Reset on Sale Survives the Amendment
Under current law, Section 193.1555 of the Florida Statutes sets the assessment of non-homestead residential property at just value in its first year. After that, annual increases are capped at 10%. When ownership or control changes, the property is reassessed at just value on the next January 1.
The Legislature passed HJR 1-F, the joint resolution behind Amendment 3, in June 2026. The enrolled text of HJR 1-F keeps the 10% cap before January 1, 2027 and sets it at 5% starting that date. In the same subsection, it keeps the rule that after a change of ownership or control, "including any change of ownership of a legal entity that owns the property," the property is assessed at just value as of the next assessment date. The House staff analysis describes the same pattern: non-homestead property is reassessed at just value after a change of ownership, and the amendment cuts the cap from 10% to 5%.
For a second home held in an LLC or another entity, the text treats a change in who owns the entity the same as a change on the deed. Both caps also apply only to levies other than school district levies, so the school portion of a second-home bill follows just value without either ceiling.
What Amendment 3 Changes on a Non-Homestead Bill
Most coverage leads with the larger homestead exemption. A Rosemary Beach second home doesn't qualify for it. Florida TaxWatch says rental residences, second homes and part-year residences are not eligible for the homestead exemption.
| Provision | Current rule | Under Amendment 3 | Applies to a second home? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-school homestead exemption | $51,411 total exemption in 2026 | $150,000 in 2027, $250,000 in 2028, then indexed | No |
| Annual cap on non-homestead assessment increases, non-school levies only | 10% | 5% beginning January 1, 2027 | Yes |
| Reset to just value after a sale | Yes | Yes, retained | Yes |
| Limits on raising millage | None specific | None added | Yes |
The exemption figures and the effective date come from the Florida Department of State's ballot summary. The 2026 exemption total of $51,411 comes from TaxWatch. TaxWatch also says nothing in the amendment prevents or limits local governments from raising revenue or spending.
The cap is the only line in the table that lowers a second-home assessment, and it only helps a property that is already in a capped year. A buyer who closes in 2027 starts at just value on January 1, 2028. A neighbor who bought years earlier stays under a ceiling that would grow half as fast as it does today.
The Ceiling, Compounded
The difference grows each year that market values rise faster than the cap. The figures below are maximums. They show how much a capped assessment can rise when the market climbs faster than the cap every year, and they are not forecasts:
- Under a 10% cap, five straight capped years let an assessment rise as much as about 61%.
- Under a 5% cap, the same five years allow about 28%.
- A buyer who purchases at the end of those five years is assessed at whatever just value is by then, with no ceiling carried over from the seller.
When values rise slowly, neither cap comes into play and the two bills look alike. When values rise fast, the long-held property's assessment falls further behind the market each year, while a new purchase starts at market value. A 5% cap makes that gap open about twice as fast as the current rule. TaxWatch describes the lower cap as something that "may help to slightly mitigate the tax shift to non-homestead properties." It also notes that its own recommendation was a tighter cap still, matched to Save Our Homes.
Millage Is the Number That Actually Moves
A tax bill is the assessment multiplied by the millage rate. For a buyer starting at just value, the cap doesn't matter in year one, so the rate does most of the work. Walton County moved its rate before the vote.
At its final budget hearing on September 28, 2026, the Walton County Board of County Commissioners adopted an aggregate operating millage of 3.2806 mills for fiscal year 2026-27. The rolled-back rate was 3.4634 mills, so the adopted rate is 5.28% lower. The county's announcement puts the reduction at $8.6 million below rolled-back, with a total budget of $345,223,508. It says, "The cuts reflect the possibility that Florida's proposed property tax referendum, Amendment 3, may pass in November."
So for fiscal 2026-27, every Walton County property owner pays a county rate set with Amendment 3 in mind, whether the property is homesteaded or not. The rate for later years depends on what happens to revenue once the exemption takes effect. TaxWatch's guide calls exemptions and caps that benefit only some properties "not really tax cuts as much as tax shifts." It adds that the system already "favors long-term homestead property at the expense of non-homestead property," a group that includes second homes.
Why South Walton Is Exposed Differently
The size of that revenue gap depends on how much of the local tax base is homesteaded. On September 23, Walton County and Holmes County public safety officials held a discussion on Amendment 3. South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford, who is also president of the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association, spoke about it there, as the Holmes County Advertiser reported:
"What impacts a sheriff in South Walton from the tax reform standpoint will be very differently affected in communities like Bonifay or the Panama City Beaches, because they have a much higher percentage of homestead properties."
The Florida Association of Counties' estimate for Walton County government shows the same pattern. FAC projects an $8.816 million loss in fiscal 2027-28. Of that, $5.242 million comes from the expanded homestead exemption and $3.574 million from the lower non-homestead cap, which means about two-fifths of the first-year loss comes from the cap. For fiscal 2028-29, FAC projects $16.626 million, with $7.147 million tied to the cap. FAC notes that these figures use January 2026 state estimating data and may differ from later estimates. Florida TaxWatch takes a broader view that covers every local government in Walton County. It projects a combined five-year reduction of $171.1 million, starting at $14.0 million in fiscal 2027-28 and reaching $51.9 million in fiscal 2031-32. The two estimates cover different governments and time periods, so neither one checks the other.
WJHG reported that the amendment lists public safety as a permitted use of property tax revenue but sets no minimum funding level and doesn't replace lost revenue. Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson told the station, "What I don't want is for this to become the fee state." WJHG also reported that Florida Realtors and the Republican Party of Florida have endorsed the amendment.
Taken together, a South Walton second-home owner is exposed to the measure mainly through what local governments do with millage and fees afterward. The exemption itself doesn't reach the property.
If Rosemary Beach Might Become Your Primary Home
Some buyers plan to make a second home their Florida residence later. The ballot summary includes a provision for them. A person who was not a Florida resident on December 31, 2026, would receive the existing homestead exemption once they qualify. The larger exemption would begin in their fifth year of exemption, "to the extent permitted by the U.S. Constitution." TaxWatch notes that in 1982 the Florida Supreme Court struck down a similar five-year waiting period. It also notes that the rewritten ballot summary acknowledges the constitutional question. If the amendment passes, that provision may draw a legal challenge.
A Few Direct Answers
When would the 5% cap start? The enrolled text applies it beginning January 1, 2027, if voters approve the amendment.
What does it take to pass? At least 60% of voters voting on the measure must approve it.
Does the seller's current tax bill carry over to me? Under both current law and the amendment text, the assessment resets to just value on the January 1 after a change of ownership, so the seller's capped figure doesn't transfer.
Does this affect short-term rental owners? Rental residences are non-homestead property, so the cap change applies to them and the exemption doesn't. For the operating side of renting, see our guide to short-term rental basics in Rosemary Beach.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm how any change applies to your property with the Walton County Property Appraiser, a tax professional or an attorney.
If you're comparing a Rosemary Beach property and want to know how its likely tax bill under new ownership compares with the history on the listing, Diana Kish can walk you through it before you write an offer. Request a Complimentary Market Consultation, or start with a home valuation if you already own on 30A.
