Property Tax Amendment Update, Rainfall, and more
September 12, 2026 Weekly Newsletter
Amendment 3's New Name
Amendment 3 is no longer called "Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes." We used that title in last week's newsletter, and that was a mistake. The measure now appears on the November ballot as "Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments." The correction matters more than a typo would, because of why the name changed.
In an 18-page order, Leon County Circuit Judge David Frank found the original ballot title and summary clearly and conclusively defective, barred the Secretary of State from putting that wording on the ballot, and gave the Attorney General ten days to write something that described the amendment instead of campaigning for it. Frank was direct that he was not deciding whether the property tax plan is good policy, only whether voters were getting a fair and accurate explanation before they decide.
He found several problems. The word "save" was built to trigger an emotional response, and borrowing "Save Our Homes" risked confusing voters, since that name already belongs to Florida's existing 3% cap on annual assessment increases (a cap Amendment 3 does not change). The summary's promises that the amendment would benefit taxpayers, ensure funding for core services, protect small businesses and ensure fairness for Florida residents were found misleading. Cities and counties facing a smaller tax base can raise millage rates or lean on special assessments, which can eat the savings, and renters may simply see the cost passed along.
The finding that should concern anyone who cares about local control is the omission. Frank wrote that the summary left out at least one material fact: the amendment would put the Legislature's authority over ad valorem tax spending into the Constitution for the first time, changing the baseline of city and county power. The rewritten summary now spells out the permitted spending categories, including public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, retirement benefits and government operations.
Read that list again with a shrinking tax base in mind. Natural resources sits on it alongside public safety and others. Lagoon restoration, stormwater retrofits, conservation land management and septic-to-sewer work all come out of the same pot, and they are rarely the line item that wins when the pot gets smaller and Tallahassee holds the rules.
Amendment 3 needs 60% approval on November 3. It would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and drop the assessment cap on non-homestead property (rentals, second homes, commercial) from 10% to 5%. Read the new language before you vote. It is the more honest version, and it is still worth reading closely.
PFAS Well Water Testing
IRNA is offering free, certified lab testing for PFAS ("forever chemicals") in private drinking water wells. Sign up, submit your water sample, and get your results, plus learn what they mean for your health.
We are especially searching for wells at or near Blue Cypress Lake, Fellsmere, Gifford, and Wabasso. There are only a few tests left! Reach out today!
Open to Indian River County home and business owners on private wells only (not connected to municipal water). Questions? Contact Missy@IndianRiverNA.com
Do you support Amendment 3?
Now that the new ballot language is finalized, we're curious. We're running an informal straw poll of IRNA readers on Amendment 3, the property tax measure on the November 3 ballot. Three questions, less than thirty seconds: which way are you leaning, are you homesteaded, and what is your zip code. We'll keep it open for a few weeks and let you know the results in October. These three questions will give us some interesting data on our readership. Thank you for your participation!
‘Septic-to-sewer’ workshops hope to clear up confusion (Vero News) - Indian River County is hosting public workshops to help property owners navigate a state mandate requiring thousands of residents in the local watershed to undertake costly septic system upgrades or connect to centralized sewer lines by July 2030 to prevent water pollution.
Vero Beach Airport gives its terminal a smoother landing (Hometown News) - Grant-funded terminal improvements at Vero Beach Airport have created a dedicated arrivals area, covered baggage claim, and streamlined traffic patterns to ease passenger congestion while preserving the facility's small-town charm.
Is Vero Beach’s airport getting too big, too fast? (Vero News) - Rapid increases in commercial airline service, private aviation, and regional population have spurred major infrastructure expansions at Vero Beach Regional Airport, prompting local officials to weigh further terminal growth while seeking community input to preserve the facility's small-town character.
Sebastian tables latest Cross Creek phase (Hometown News) - The Sebastian City Council voted unanimously to table preliminary plat approval for the third phase of Cross Creek Lakes Estates indefinitely until city staff and the developers can resolve issues regarding emergency access routes and code compliance.
Indian River County is, right now, one of the wetter spots in Florida, which is exactly why it's a good time to talk about water shortages, before we're in one.
Where we stand. Most of Indian River County is not currently in drought (D1–D4) on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Only 7.9% of residents are, and most of them are in the western part of the county. January through August ranked 40th wettest in 132 years of records, running about 3.3 inches above normal. But August itself came in 1.24 inches below normal, and that's how it starts.
Where the trouble is. Head north in the state and the picture flips. As of Aug. 31, Baker County was 19.65 inches below its 12-month normal, Bradford 17.34, Clay 15.46 and Duval 15.45. In the Ocklawaha basin, Alachua sat at 16.36 inches and Marion at 15.94 as of late August. All or parts of those counties have been under a Phase III Extreme Water Shortage since May. District hydrologists estimate roughly three feet of rain over three months would be needed to actually restore groundwater and surface water in the hardest-hit areas.
That last number is important. A deficit is not a recovery target. Dry soil absorbs rain, plants use it, and evaporation takes more, so only a fraction reaches the aquifer.
The El Niño question. NOAA has an El Niño Advisory up, with better than a 90 percent chance of a very strong event this fall and winter. The Climate Prediction Center's winter outlook favors wetter-than-normal conditions across the Gulf Coast and into Florida. But NOAA itself is careful here: with an event this large the odds of typical El Niño impacts go up, though they aren't guaranteed. Dry-season rain also arrives as cool-season frontal systems, and El Niño suppresses Atlantic hurricane activity, removing one of Florida's biggest recharge sources.
Why does it matters here? North Florida spent a year sliding into a Phase III order without a single dramatic event. Our aquifer is the same Floridan system, our population keeps growing, and irrigation is still one of the largest uses of treated drinking water. Conservation planning, reuse expansion and irrigation ordinances are far cheaper to adopt in a wet year than to impose in a dry one.
September 2026 Peligram (Pelican Island Audubon Society) - The September 2026 issue of the Pelican Island Audubon Society Peligram highlights local conservation initiatives, native plant garden developments, community educational programs and summer camps, upcoming outdoor events, and volunteer and membership opportunities in Indian River County.
Florida developer left unfinished condo in Sebastian; girl fell, died (TCPalm) - A sixteen-year-old Vero Beach girl died after falling through the roof of an unfinished, abandoned condominium complex in Sebastian that developers failed to secure despite years of documented trespassing and safety warnings.
Real estate agents just put $10 million into campaign to pass property tax amendment (Jason Garcia Substack) - The Florida Realtors invested $10 million into a political committee supporting Amendment 3, which is designed to significantly reduce and cap local property taxes while substantially diminishing municipal tax revenues.
Daylight saving time 2026, when Florida clocks fall back this year (Herald-Tribune) - Florida and eighteen other states await U.S. Senate and presidential approval of the Sunshine Protection Act to enact permanent daylight saving time before clocks are scheduled to fall back on November 1, 2026.
Manatee Returns to Sea After Recovering from Collapsed Lung and Serious Injury (People) - SeaWorld Orlando returned a rescued manatee named Citron to her natural habitat in Crystal River after she recovered from a severe watercraft injury and a collapsed lung following months of specialized medical treatment.
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