West Palm Beach October 2026

6 W E S T PA L M B E A C H | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 Amendment 3 COMMUNITY - By Noel Martinez, President & CEO, Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce - - Photo provided by Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce - L ast month, I wrote about Florida’s property tax debate and why I believe it deserves our attention. With Amendment 3 now headed to voters in November, I want to continue that conversation. Let me start with something we can probably all agree on: nobody likes paying property taxes. With the cost of housing, insurance, and just about everything else continuing to rise, I completely understand why property tax relief sounds appealing. For many homeowners, it could provide meaningful savings at a time when household budgets are being stretched. But before we vote, I think we need to understand the entire picture. Amendment 3 would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. It would also lower the annual assessment cap on many non-homestead properties, including businesses, from 10 percent to 5 percent. There is real tax relief in this proposal. But there is also another side we need to understand. Property taxes are one of the primary ways our cities and counties pay for the services we use every day. Police and fire protection. Roads. Infrastructure. Stormwater systems. Parks. Emergency response. Planning and permitting. Transportation. Those things matter to residents, but they also matter tremendously to our business community. Think about why people and companies choose to invest in a community. Taxes certainly matter. But so do safe neighborhoods, good infrastructure, reliable public services, and a great quality of life. We need to be thinking about both sides of that equation. BEFORE YOU VOTE, KNOW WHAT IT MEANS