By Ana Goñi-Lessan, News Service of Florida — Public safety groups are warning voters about the property tax cut amendment that will appear on ballots this November.
This week the Florida Sheriffs Association released a statement saying they were “significantly concerned” about Amendment 3, which if passed, would increase homestead exemptions from $50,000 to $250,000 over two years.
They’re the latest in a wave of resistance against the measure, joining the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, Florida Professional Firefighters, the Florida Fire Chiefs Association and several prominent county sheriffs in the state, who warn the tax cut could affect funding to firs responder services in Florida.
The amendment “potentially allows Tallahassee to control your local budgets, creates longer law enforcement times, limits communities’ abilities to provide road repairs and stormwater removal – these are a few of the things voters need to be aware of,” the FSA statement reads.
Ballot initiatives need 60% of the vote to pass in Florida. If approved, Amendment 3 will would hike the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, but the portion of property tax bills that pay for school schools would be excluded from the increased exemption.
Lawmakers passed the measure in a special session this spring after it was drafted by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. DeSantis had campaigned on the issue of slashing property taxes for more than a year, saying tax bills had spiked amid higher assessments in recent years and local governments didn’t do enough to cut revenue.
But after GOP legislative leaders amended it to exempt taxes levied to fund schools, DeSantis said that while he’ll vote for it, he won’t campaign for the measure.
Meanwhile, city and county officials across the state have warned voters local services provided to residents will suffer if the proposal passes.
Public safety is the largest budget item in 80 percent of Florida’s communities, according to the Vote No on 3 campaign.
Several county sheriffs in the state have already expressed their concerns about Amendment 3, including Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
Gualtieri said the property tax ballot amendment is not the proposal that DeSantis first floated to voters and questioned why there were no protections for public safety funding.
“Is Tallahassee now going to control half the budgets and have to fund the local services for medium-sized and smaller governments? What’s going to happen with that? There’s no plan,” Gualtieri told the News Service of Florida.
Gualtieri said about 85 percent of public safety budgets are salaried positions.
Judd, who also chairs the State Immigration Enforcement Council, said the tax cut could have “unintended consequences” if passed.
“In its current form, I fear the proposal will devastate counties’ and cities’ ability to deliver vital services, including emergency services, to our citizens,” he said.
In July, the Florida State Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 24,000 law enforcement officers across the state, released a statement saying they opposed Amendment 3.
“Public safety should never become collateral damage with uncertain fiscal consequences,” the police union said in a statement.
The Florida Fire Chiefs Association also said it could not support the ballot amendment in its current form.
“Constitutional Amendment No. 3 creates substantial uncertainty regarding the future funding of fire protection, emergency medical services, and disaster response without identifying a sustainable replacement revenue source,” their statement said.
