Is there a path to passage in November?
Amendment 3 falls short of the 60% it needs in every media market in Florida, new polling on behalf of Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) found.
New York-based McLaughlin & Associates, which has a Florida office in Fort Lauderdale, surveyed 800 likely General Election voters by phone and text Sept. 28-Oct. 1.
Its finding: After voters hear the measure’s full language, support hit 53%, with 28% of voters opposing it.
Amendment 3 would raise the homestead exemption on non-school taxes from about $51,000 to $250,000 by 2028, index it to inflation after that and halve the annual assessment-growth cap on non-homestead property to 5%.
Support was strongest in the Miami and Tampa areas, at 56% each, still short of passage.
The weakest support, meanwhile, is in the Orlando area, where just 48% of informed voters favor the move.
Republicans back Amendment 3 most (68%), followed by third- and no-party voters (50%) and Democrats (32%).
Opponents argue Amendment 3 would push local governments toward higher sales taxes and fees, which fall hardest on lower-income taxpayers. Low-income voters register the least support for the measure of any income bracket, at 44%.
“A clear trendline exists amongst income level — the higher the household income, the stronger and more solidified the support for passing the amendment,” a press note about the poll results said.
Black voters support Amendment 3 most (58%), followed by White voters (53%) and Hispanic voters (50%). And voters 40 and older are significantly more inclined (55%) to vote for it than their 30-and-younger counterparts (36%).
The AIF poll’s findings concur with several prior surveys, including a St. Pete Polls query Florida Politics commissioned this month, which found only 42% of likely voters back the proposal, down 3 points from a mid-September survey. Stetson poll numbers released this week put support at 51%.
Read the full news article on Florida Politics