If Amendment 5 doesn’t pass in November, one Lake County senior citizen says he may not be able to afford the house he lives in.

  • Amendment 5 is on November ballot
  • The amendment provides property tax exemption
  • 21 Florida counties have adopted the amendment

Ernest Quinton, 87, lives with his daughter in Mount Dora in the house he built more than 30 years ago. ​Quinton is one of 190 homeowners in the county currently taking advantage of a property tax exemption.

"If I had to pay $1,500 more, or if I had to pay $100 more, I couldn’t do it. I can't do what they want now, to have any quality of life," Quinton said.  

In 2012, voters enacted the exemption for low-income seniors who have lived in their homes for 25 years. Homes could not have a value of more than $250,000 and the combined household income could not exceed $28,000.

However, Lake County Property Appraiser Carey Baker says there's a problem with the current exemption.

"The way the amendment was written at the time, if the value of their home increased and exceeded that $250,000 value, they lost that exemption," Baker said.  

In November, voters will decide if qualifying seniors will be able to keep their exemption even if their home values increase.  

Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute, said it supports the amendment.  

"They raised families in these communities, now they're retiring in these communities and we don’t want these individuals to have to leave now that they no longer collect an income and they're not able to pay these taxes," said Kyle Baltuch with Florida TaxWatch.

The exemption only takes effect if a county or a city adopts it. Currently, 21 counties in Florida are participating.​ If the amendment passes, seniors who originally qualified, but had the exemption removed because their home value increased, would get a refund.  

Note: While reporting on this story, we didn't find anyone “openly” opposed to the amendment. ​