Judge rules Amendment 3 ballot description misleads Florida voters

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WINK)— The Office of the Attorney General has 10 days to appeal or rewrite the title and description for Amendment 3, the property tax measure.

The property tax measure is the same, but what appears on the ballot in November could be different.

Leon County Judge David Frank's judgment outlines multiple places where the description could mislead a voter, starting with the line "This amendment benefits Florida taxpayers."

"Right now I do not have a home, so I don't won't get the exemption," said Tom Timmins, a Florida renter.

The organization Save Our Voters says the ballot descriptions are more akin to a political slogan than a piece of legislation.

"I think it's misleading because it leaves out things that people didn't read all the way down," said John Basta, a Florida renter.

"I don't understand why it's misleading. It seems pretty straightforward to me," said Doug Oren, a Florida and Michigan homeowner.

While taxpayers are split, the Leon County judge was clear. The Office of the Attorney General will have 10 days to appeal or rewrite the description for the November general election.

"What I would suggest is to emphasize that it's not a complete exemption, but it's a partial exemption," Basta said.

If passed, the exemption for homeowners will be up to $150,000 in 2027. The description, however, says a $250,000 exemption is available for homeowners when in reality, that's not until 2028.

"I'm very fortunate to own two places, but also as you end up getting taxed out of your existing properties because there's so many taxes," Oren said.

Another point in the description the judgment has identified for change is the statement "ensuring funding for core services."

"I'm primarily concerned for the cities that they're not gonna have the income they need, so they're gonna have to find that money somewhere," Timmins said.

Save Our Voters sent WINK News a statement, "We are pleased with Judge Frank’s order, and particularly the specificity of his findings as to the defects that need to be corrected by the Attorney General.  We are not trying to deprive the voters from the opportunity to vote on this important issue – we want to ensure that when they vote they are able to make an informed decision.  That is only possible if the ballot title and ballot summary are fair and accurate.  Hopefully, the Attorney General will re-write the ballot title and ballot summary to correct the specific defects found by the Judge within ten days and do so in a fair and accurate manner"

Attorney General James Uthmeier addressed the judgment Tuesday afternoon.

"Judge ruled that it's unlawfully written under Florida law. The Office of Attorney General, you know, is is called on to to rewrite the ballot language to be consistent with the law. The team is looking at that. This just came down. We we got it this morning, so we're giving it a hard look, and and we'll have updates soon" Uthmeier said.

WINK News will continue to follow how the ballot description is rewritten.