If voters in November approve the proposed amendment to raise the homestead exemption to $150,000 next year and $250,000 the following year, Flagler County government would have a $28 million deficit out of its $140 million general fund next year, and a $46 million deficit in 2028, if it were to maintain current services, including fire, policing, judicial and all other government responsibilities. The county is not allowed by law to run deficits. It would have to cut services.
County commissioners want the public to know what that would mean.
The county administration provided those numbers to the County Commission at a budget workshop on Tuesday, based on numbers from Property Appraiser Jay Gardner, who got them from the state Revenue Estimating Conference. That’s just for the first two years. Gardner said the numbers are likely an undercount, because they don’t include a new 5-percent cap on commercial property valuations.
“Our job is to prepare,” Commission Chair Leann Pennington said.
To that end, the county administration prepared a “10 percent reduction exercise” pending something more drastic if the amendment passes–an eventuality Flagler County Budget Manager Brian Eichinger described as “death by 1,000 cuts.”
“The municipalities are also going to be looking at how they’re going to get to continue to exist,” Eichinger said. “There is a possibility that some of them might have to dissolve, say Marineland. They’re very, very small. They might not have an option there.”
The 10 percent reduction is more theoretical than pragmatic, sparing most government operations and requiring a few years, years, not a few months’ budget season, to enact. It was not quite what the commissioners had requested.
As presented, it would mean creating a referendum-approved, tax-supported library district, eliminating support for beach protection out of the general fund (which would leave sales tax revenue supporting that), eliminating Community Redevelopment Agencies, such as Palm Coast’s Town Center CRA. The county did not ask the constitutional officers to propose 10 percent cuts (the constitutionals are the sheriff, the property appraiser, the tax collector, the elections supervisor and the clerk of court) even though they account for almost half the general fund revenue ($64 million). They would have to cut $6.4 million.
The 10 percent cut will not be enough to cover the lost revenue if the homestead proposal passes.
The chart of cuts Eichinger displayed also included an enigmatic $600,000 elimination of “strategic plan funding.” Search as you may, that line item appears nowhere in county budgets. Pennington described it as a slush fund, if not in so many words: “It was a $600,000 fund sitting off to the side for pooled expenditures,” she said. “There were $600,000 sitting in there that they wrote checks against, that’s a lot, that’s a road.”
One of the checks was a $75,000 settlement with a developer the County Commission had never approved–and in fact had opposed when it last discussed the issue at a meeting. (The county administrator has authority to spend up to $100,000 without commission approval.)
“This is just an old practice that keeps getting out of control that needs to get reined back in,” Commissioner Kim Carney said.
In any case, the 10 percent exercise did not satisfy Carney, who said her idea of a 10 percent exercise was for every department to submit a budget with a 10 percent cut. “This touches one department, the library,” Carney said. “So every department is going to have to look within.”
Commissioner Greg Hansen agreed. He did not consider the 10 percent exercise as presented on Tuesday as valid. “To do a legitimate 10 percent reduction, it should be from our departments. It should be our overall spending 10 percent reduction. I think that’s not a bad drill to go through,” Hansen said.
Carney said the county needs to cut 25 to 30 people if the amendment passes. “And if we’re asking our constitutionals to cut 10 percent, then we need to go through the same exercise,” she said. As for the beach, she said, it could come down to protecting just the 2.8 miles of beach that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers renourished two years ago.
Acting County Administrator Adam Mengel said the administration is prepared to do that. But he wanted the commission to be prepared for what it will see. “We’re cutting programs, we’re cutting people, we’re making choices,” he said. “It’s going to be a bit of a meat grinder and so if you’re ready for that–and it will be the public side that nobody wants to see, because we’ll be able to link positions as we discuss them to people that are working here now. So that’s where the rubber is going to meet the road.”
Carney said it is time to show the public what the homestead proposal will cost, and to do it in a way that stops short of campaigning against it: “We’ve got to tell the public what they’re not going to get as a result of you voting,” she said. “We have to do it indirectly. We can’t do it in their face, because we can’t put out an ad. But we need to look at–the quality of life is not going to sustain. It’s not.”
Carney was echoing candid remarks by Property Appraiser Jay Gardner moments earlier. “The whole referendum was nothing but a marketing thing,” Gardner said, describing the language of the proposed referendum as “brutally one-sided, and it’s not allowed to be. So it will be, I am certain, overturned. And I also believe that the five-year thing is illegal and it will be overturned because someone will challenge that.”
The proposed amendment does not extend the higher homestead exemptions to new homeowners moving into Florida. They would have to wait five years to reap the benefit. “You can’t put a gate up in the top of Florida and say, you know, we don’t like Yankees. We’re not going to let them come in our state. And that’s what this is doing.” He added: “We don’t get to do that. This is the United States, so that will be challenged.”
Gardner also revealed that property appraisers like him will be required to send information about the proposed referendum in the mailings containing property owners’ tax bills. “They are going to make me do stuff, and it actually says in the bill that I can’t touch it,” Gardner said. “We’re not allowed to do anything to it. We have to slip it in the envelope.”
Commissioners were speaking in early afternoon, unaware yet that Sheriff Rick Staly had spoken bluntly and critically against the proposed amendment at a Palm Coast City Council meeting that morning. (See: “Sheriff Staly Blasts Proposed Homestead Property Tax Amendment as ‘Politics’ That ‘Screw Around With the Cities and the County.’”)
“No homestead exemption has ever not passed,” County Commission Chair Leann Pennington said. “So I go with the mindset that fortunate or unfortunate, if you’re sitting here in the seat making decisions, this is probably going to pass.”
Not necessarily, Gardner said, reminding the commissioners that the Save Our Homes Amendment of 1992 passed with 53 percent of the vote, not 60 percent. In 1992, amendments needed to clear the 50 percent threshold to be approved. Now they need to clear 60 percent. “And I talked to a lot of people that go, well, where is it going to come from,” Gardner said of the replacement revenue. “Then the other half of them tell me what crooks y’all are, and you’re squandering money, and use words like, not just waste. I don’t mind saying waste. Fraud and abuse, which I get offended when they say that.”
“Keep in mind, they’re very proud of this, and they think it’s not going to hurt us,” Hansen said of state lawmakers who approved the proposed amendment. “They actually believe that, and then I think in some counties it’s not going to hurt. It’s different for us.” Flagler County is more reliant than almost all other counties on homesteaded tax revenue.
TR says
More scare tactic article. Take the wasted high unneeded employees and get ride of the extra assistance’s for people who don’t want to do their job.
Skibum says
The information is REALITY, not scare tactics! If your own household budget was slashed by a huge amount, there is no way you would be able to utilize the same budget that you had prior to that cut, and local governments, whether that be the county or the city of Palm Coast, will be faced with one of two options: 1) cut back on services provided, or 2) find another taxing alternative to bring in enough money to continue that level of services. Or maybe a combination of the two alternatives.
But to flippantly and without any evidence to just say the information is scare tactics is irresponsible, or based on ignorance, or just plain lies. Please tell me which is it because your second sentence shows a deep distrust of public sector employees and tells me you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about!
bill says
i’ve worked for the city over 10 years and I have seen the waste and some of the salaries that were dished and people who were given the OK that were from their homes. It’s time to purge it’s like when you retire you don’t get the same amount of money you did when you were working the city is too bloated.
Liam says
So when YOU need a fire crew, that is stretched too thin because they have to go all volunteer, for a fire at your house, a singular ambulance when you call a depleted 911 dispatch center, and a sheriff’s deputy from the handful that are left for someone breaking into your house, you’d be the first one screaming about WHY your house burned, WHY you had to have someone drive you to the hospital, WHY you had to get hurt defending your property from a break-in? Why? This is the answer to the why.
Once more for the simple brains since there are so many in this world…PROPERTY TAXES PAY FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES LIKE FIRE, POLICE, 911 DISPATCHERS, AMBULANCES, and so on.
This is a LARGE community. Since YOU say let go of the extra people as a solution (which is insanely stupid), we should all know who you are, so you go to the bottom of the list. It’s only fair.
Keep Flagler Beautiful says
We taxpayers, on the other hand, would like for all government agencies in this county to understand that we view you as profligate spenders who receive very high salaries and lavish retirements that are on par with those in some of America’s biggest cities. We have a problem in Flagler County. You spend as you please, but our opinions mean nothing to you. Developers get away with murder, and we end up holding the bag for roads, lighting, schools and public services, while our neighborhoods and lifestyle are wrecked by deforestation, traffic, air pollution and overcrowding because of your sweetheart deals. Never assume that we don’t see what’s going on. Forget the scare tactics. They won’t work. You may not listen to us at council meetings or any other public forum, but we will get our say as voters. If we have to budget, so do you, so prepare to tighten your belts. The gravy train has left the building.
bill says
I agree with you 100% I can’t get a deputy damn all Kings rolled with her doing 6070 miles an hour. You can’t walk down that road anymore because the speeders that might lose control of their vehicles while they’re doing excessive speed above 45 mph sheriffs department the useless with traffic enforcement down this end of old King Road I haven’t had my road repay in over the 20 years I’ve worked for the city for 15 years and I have seen the increase of salaries and the waste of people working here and positions made along with high salaries. They overspend they raided the cookie jar if I have to budget my household, they have to budget there. I’m voting a big ass for homestead increase. I’ve seen what went on in the city their sneaks they’re connivers and I don’t trust any of them.
Cynthia says
Well written. With all the approved new developments, the benits the county gives to developers should stop. The homestead exemption hasn’t changed in decades, so this is way overdue.
DP says
If Flagler County is so reliant on Homesteaded properties. Then why haven’t they done something about that? This anti commercial growth in the cities, and county is the reason this county maybe in trouble. The citizens some of which are on fixed budgets don’t get to just raise the millage to bring in more money. NO they have to live on what they get of SS with what is called a cola from the federal government. Home values have risen beyond comprehension, with no relief to the homeowners. We must live within our budget, or we do without. Same should the county and cities. Is this a perfect plan? NO, but it should be a wake up call to all the governing bodies. Homestead exemption should increase, and the save our homes cap, should be reduced to 2% or below. Time for a change, or the counties and cities will have nothing but abandoned homes.
Deka says
I am in favor of the property tax reduction. Anytime any government is asked to consider reducing their budget, they always claim “the world will come to an end”. When they hire new directors and managers at higher salaries, we are always told they need to pay these folks top salaries to attract the best. Well, now is the time for these highly paid “best” managers and directors to do their job and show the public how they can meet this 10% reduction. This is why we pay these high salaries. Is it possible- Yes. Will it be difficult-Yes. But that is why our government went out and paid and hired the “best” It’s time to do your job!
Upyours says
I agree but it will not be the “protected” directors and manager losing their jobs it will be the workers. The ones who care about their jobs and the county.
JC says
Yes but in the process making the state government bigger in the process. Do you want our state government to be more involved in your life? That is what is going to happen if this amendment passes.
Laney says
For those that believe this amendment is the perfect way to get local govt to budget and cut spending because they’ll be forced to fire high paid administrators and a few office jobs, think again. The cuts will directly affect infrastructure like roads and public works, maintenance as well as parks and recreation, community services and centers, libraries, lifeguards, etc. If you enjoy any of those things, now you wont and that’ll be just more stuff for y’all to complain about. Managers and administrative salaries don’t add up to the 10% potential cut. And if you really believe that’s all that it would take to balance the budget, please do some research (it’s free on the Internet) on what property taxes are for and how they’re used in local governments.
Sickofit says
If the Flagler County Commissioners want to convince voters that Property Tax reform will be painful they really are doing a poor job of it. Just within the past two weeks, we have learned that prolific over spender Staly, wants an additional 10.8% added to his budget. This is the same fear monger who had enough in his current slush fund to buy a freaking helicopter!
Then we learn about another $600,000 county slush fund and the other constitutionals now wanting an extra 9.3% for each of their own budgets. These government porkers need to try living like their constituents.
Wage growth in America has not kept up with Trumps unfunded ballrooms, wars and insurrectionist slush funds and the price of his surrender package to Iran is also going to hit squarely on the middle class. Enough is Enough!
Deborah Coffey says
It’s too late elected MAGAs. The cult is already formed and operational the way you all used to want it. Now, they won’t believe a word you say.
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor PC says
This will pass overwhelming. Both county and city governments need to start looking at where they’re gonna make cuts now. Homesteaded property owners are sick and tired of paying rent to government. Cut the fat, cut the waste and spend our hard earned tax dollars responsibly for a change. No more “hamster cage” bridges to nowhere!
celia says
I am not in favor of the Tally proposal as do not want to loose sleep or having to attend long city or county meeting when they will try to pass other new taxes to replace the revenue lost if the bill approved. Also we can already see first county threat is “cut services” our already diminished services? other than cutting the fat first like those high paid 6 figures seats in the administration or constitutional budgets. With less services should be less employees needed. Start cutting down first the overpaid and over benefitted bureaucracy ! Stop wasting millions in consultants or golden parachute staff health care and get the highly paid professionals in the payroll to start doing their work instead and for “our needs” and not for the developers wants! County stop wasting million in real estate unless is for conservation of land and wildlife.
Dennis C Rathsam says
This city has been skrewing the citizens for years now! The sheriff thinks he,s gods gift law enforcement. If a burglers trying to break into a home….Id indroduce them to a bullet, then wait for a deputy. Retirees are always lost in the shuttle here in P/C. But they sure love ripping us off in our water bill, & there’s no way a senior couple needs garbage pick up 2xs a week! We need to pay for what we use! The day of the out to lunch, the checks in the mail….. ARE OVER
bill says
I am voting a big YES. do a little research and see what some of the salaries are in City Hall see what the inspectors are getting the heads of code enforcement are getting it will blow your minds. see how many people work from their homes nothing but a scam. And Staly wants more deputies for what? I don’t see them doing anything as far as cutting back speeders or the crazy drivers in the city he thinks he’s running a city of 2 to 300,000 people make do with what you have. The county the city should have attracted more corporations, big businesses in this county to absorb the taxes. We have stupid leaders running this county or they have their own self agenda voting. Yes, come nov. and since 90% of the people that live in the city have firearms and open carry and whatever else they have with firearms, we don’t really need that anymore deputies
Billy says
It’s about time the Palm Coast gravy train ends.
John Stove says
I worked for a city that went thru a 10% reduction because city/county services were heavily reliant on Sales Tax and not property tax. Revenue forecast had us cut city services to the core for the foreseeable future and guess what?
Departments let go employees who “did not meet expectations”
Fleet purchases and equipment needs were more carefully analyzed
Departments and Divisions became much more efficient and cut waste
City Council gave up all their pet projects and “Discretionary Funds”
Many services were contracted out relieving us of the need to pay for medical and retirement
In the end the city became more efficient with hardly a noticeable drop in core services. When the sales tax revenue came back, funds were put into the reserve. Police and Fire response remained the same, no one died and there wasn’t a plague of locust descending on the city.
Vote YES and stop the “Death by 1000 cuts” of the homeowner who has no control of the waste by the City and County.
I told you so says
“Our job is to prepare,” Commission Chair Leann Pennington said.
No, Commissioner, your job is to represent the citizens of Flagler County. The County Administrator’s job is to prepare budgets, forecasts, and operational plans. Elected officials are supposed to represent the people who put them in office.
Perhaps before discussing “scorched earth” budget scenarios, service cuts, layoffs, and tax increases, the commission should take a hard look at its own spending decisions. Taxpayers have watched millions spent on projects many never requested, including taxpayer-funded restaurant developments and other questionable expenditures. Mr. Mengle who has been an administration fixture for years should be well aware of those decisions and their financial impact.
What is particularly troubling is the apparent effort to portray citizens as the problem. The commission approved thousands of new homes and commercial developments over the last several years. Those homes and businesses were built largely to accommodate people relocating from higher-tax states. Why is anyone surprised that many of those same residents would support tax relief when given the opportunity?
The reality is that voters are not responsible for poor financial decisions. If the county had exercised greater fiscal discipline, avoided unnecessary projects, and prevented costly legal settlements resulting from management failures, the current budget discussion would look very different.
Before blaming taxpayers for potential revenue reductions, county leaders should first examine how taxpayer dollars have been spent and whether those expenditures truly reflected the priorities of the citizens they were elected to serve.
FLF says
Remember the 2008-2009 crash? “Worse than the great depression” some experts boasted. Our company took a 30% drop in sales and revenue, we made tough decisions with staffing levels, expenditures, cut hours, everything. We still made money because we made the right decisions. Our customers still demanded the same products, shipped on time at the same price! Stock market crashed, I took a $100K hit in my 401K. Property values dropped significantly. The world was coming to an end. Not so much! Many of us who have lived here in Palm Coast for more than 20 years have watched the slow but persistent decline in the quality of life here. Constantly being ignored about our vision and what we want for this city, developers driving city government decisions in their favor. Then we have the splash pad, Captains BBQ, The moldy Sheriffs building, the moldy Sears building, in fill lots, homes jacked up 2 feet higher than their next door neighbors, explosive growth without the needed infrastructure to support it because “growth is good for us”. People don’t mind paying property taxes as long as they get something in return, it’s logical for us to support our city but when you see poor decision after poor decision it makes you wonder and say “I’m not getting what I’m paying for”. Stop the scare tactics, you been under achieving for a long time now..
Villein says
You’ve definitely hit upon somethings worth complaining about. I don’t think things will get better if homeowners don’t pay property taxes. Those things are unrelated. Democracy is messy and this area has changed a lot as has most of Florida. I don’t want to pay more than my fair share of taxes. Paying an ad valorem tax on my small house versus what others pay for a much bigger house seems much more fair than everyone paying the same fees or higher sales taxes, or both.
To be clear- your example cites a 30% drop in revenue. The property appraiser has said 60% of the properties in Flagler County are single-family residences. Would your business have survived with that big a cut? I don’t expect local governments will. If you don’t like the waste, then be a citizen. Get off your ass and attend local government meetings. Clearly state what you expect from your local government and be prepared to learn about how things work. It’s the only way.
Ed P says
Support sits between 55% and 77% . It’s very early. Many people don’t even know or understand the proposal. Flagler County and Palm Coast are different from Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami.
To believe the 60% threshold for approval may not occur is delusional. We have created a society where few people vote against a Santa Claus issue. Everyone wants more for less and expects the other guy to pay for the more.
At the voting booth, people will realize that they may not have ever had a chance to directly reduce their tax burden where that reduction/savings lands in their pockets.
The allure for the average Miami homeowner to save $1500-$2300 is twice what a Palm Coast homeowner saves because of millage and home values.
Service and fee hikes will backfill some of the short fall, however, savings and budgeting cuts will occur. Things will change. They must change.
Maybe Flagler County residence will be resigned to the idea that we really need commercial business beyond retail and medical. The NIMBY attitude might soften.
With all that said, millions of people throughout our country live in smaller communities without all the resources/services and amenities we enjoy.
Remember many of our “neighbors” have posted their yearning for the serenity of Old Florida, just like it used to be.
Be careful what you wish for.
Anonymous County Employee says
I understand people’s frustration with overspending, and their desire to stick it to the man. But “the man” won’t be phased by this. It’s all of the employees who are actually out there doing the work, like myself. All of these high paid managers and directors will stay exactly where they are, and it’s the boots on the ground who will get the axe. If/when this bill passes, I will be only 2 months away from a pension. This is going to hurt real people with families to feed, and the rich will stay fat.
Just Saying says
Over the past five years home values in Flagler County have more than doubled. The quantity of new homes being built have increased tremendously. Surely the County has been receiving their fair share of tax revenue from the increase in development. Whether the referendum passes or not, our municipalities need to reevaluate their budgets and tighten their belts like the rest of us. Enough is Enough…..
FlaglerLive says
Taxable values in the last five years increased about 56 percent countywide, including new construction.
John Stove says
Never trust a rapeublican. They are betting people will judge the book by the cover. It’s a tax shift to consolidate power as all fascist do. 12% sales tax won’t help the majority of Floridians especially those not currently owning. Similar to the GoP scheme to defund public schools and call it a choice l. If you vote rapeublicam you better bend over or get kidnapped by masked proud boys ..
USA 1776 to 2025
Murikkka 2026-
R.S. says
That’s right: throw away more evil socialism! After all, who needs socialized fire protection. If you want to protect your home from fire, hire your own fire department. If you want to get clean water into your home, hire your own water supply company. If you want to get electricity, hire your own electric company or put solar on your roof and shut up when the sun don’t shine. If you want military protection, get your own militia or army or paid guard. If you want healthcare . . . oh, well, we’ve done that one already; you’re always free to die if you can’t pay.
john stove says
In 2025 the City of Palm Coast generated $42.2 Million dollars from property taxes…..in 2024 it generated $37.8 Million dollars in property taxes…..an increase of $4.4 Million dollars IN ONE YEAR.
Tell me we arent getting screwed….the City had better diversify its revenue stream as the tax revolt is here.