A growing coalition of statewide organizations, local officials, and civic groups has formalized opposition to Amendment 3, a proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2026 general election ballot that would overhaul local property taxes across Florida.
The newest organizations to announce their formal opposition this week include the Florida Library Association, the Florida Association of Special Districts, the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida, and the League of Women Voters of Florida.
They join a broad roster of public safety and municipal associations already opposing or raising formal concerns over the measure. That coalition includes the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association, the Florida Professional Firefighters, the Florida Fire Marshals and Inspectors Association, 1000 Friends of Florida, the Florida Rural Economic Development Association, the Florida Recreation and Park Association, the Florida Association of County Engineers and Road Superintendents, and the American Planning Association Florida Chapter.
Leaders of the opposition campaign argue that reducing municipal property tax revenues will force deep cuts to essential local services or shift the tax burden onto other segments of the population.
“Amendment 3 is simple, you will pay more while they pay less, and we all will lose with cuts to police, fire, EMS and other public safety services,” said Edie Ousley, spokesperson for the Vote No on Amendment 3 campaign. “Rural counties and small cities will likely go bankrupt. Taxes will shift onto renters, business owners and large landowners, and all Floridians will have limited access to libraries and parks.”
Local service advocates warned that the amendment fails to provide an alternative funding mechanism to make up for lost revenue.
“Amendment 3 will significantly reduce locally controlled revenue available to Florida’s cities and counties,” the Florida Library Association said in a statement. “Without a clear and sustainable replacement for that revenue, the amendment will place additional pressure on funding for public libraries and other essential local services. For libraries, reduced local resources will mean fewer hours, reduced staffing and programming, fewer materials and technology resources, and will seriously reduce access to services for the communities that depend on them.”
The Florida Association of Special Districts raised similar concerns regarding independent public units that handle regional water management, mosquito control, fire rescue, and hospital operations.
“Special districts are single-purpose units of government that deliver the services Floridians depend on every day, from fire rescue and emergency response to children services, water systems, water/flood control, parks, libraries, hospitals, public health mosquito control, and community infrastructure,” the association stated. “Amendment 3 would severely limit the ability of special districts to provide and improve these critical services, placing additional pressure on the communities they serve.”
The League of Women Voters emphasized the broader impact on community infrastructure and public safety.
“We love to take our kids and grandkids to the local park. We love to watch them play baseball and soccer at the municipal sports field. We love our public libraries. We love driving on well-maintained county roads. We love being safe because our police officers and firefighters have the resources they need to do their jobs,” the organization said. “And we don’t want to put our communities and services we love at risk because of a confusing ballot amendment.”
Housing advocates also pointed to specific inequities within the measure’s structure, particularly regarding residents who live in mobile and manufactured home communities.
“The benefits of that tax change will not benefit manufactured homeowners because we own the home, but we don’t own the property,” said John Calabrese, president of the Federation of Manufactured Home Owners of Florida. “So it’s a commercial property tax while we pay taxes. We will get no reduction in our taxes.”
The group formally noted that manufactured homeowners in land-lease neighborhoods will receive little to no direct financial relief, while facing indirect costs as local fees and service expenses rise.
Local administrators have warned that the revenue impact could threaten the very existence of smaller jurisdictions. Speaking at a recent Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations meeting, Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo projected that eight to 10 municipalities in the area could face dissolution if property tax revenues fall sharply.
“Multiple municipalities will fold,” Abruzzo said, noting that cities with small commercial tax bases that already levy the maximum allowable millage rate will have virtually no other avenues to generate replacement revenue.
Tax research groups have echoed warnings about unintended financial shifts. Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan taxpayer research institute, launched an educational portal, PropertyTaxFL.org, and argued that the amendment was rushed through the legislative process without adequate vetting from local stakeholders.
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Jeff Kottkamp, a former lieutenant governor, pointed out that local governments may simply turn to other fees to balance their books.
“There’s no prohibition from local governments just offsetting the revenue losses with increased fees,” Kottkamp said. “There’s a range from cities from 10 to 90% on how much of their budget is from property tax. So there’s some places where it could be catastrophic if you don’t create some mechanism for those places to get alternative funding.”
TaxWatch recommended that voters wait for the state’s constitutionally mandated Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, which convenes in 2027, to examine statewide tax structures and present comprehensive reforms for the 2028 ballot.
A statewide poll conducted by TaxWatch and Sachs Media between Aug. 1 and Aug. 3 found that learning about the upcoming 2027 commission shifted one in three initial “yes” voters toward a “wait” stance, bringing projected support down to 42 percent—well below the 60 percent threshold required to amend the Florida Constitution.
READ: 17 Florida Sheriffs Unite Behind Byron Donalds’ Bid For Governor
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