Public safety groups are warning voters about the property tax cut amendment that will appear on ballots this November.
On Monday, 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 percent 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.
“I support meaningful property tax relief for Flagler County residents and Floridians, but it cannot come at the expense of reliable, responsive, and effective public safety,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said today in a statement to FlaglerLive, specifying that he was addressing the issue personally as Flagler County’s sheriff rather than as the Sheriff’s Association vice-president (to which he was elected last month).
“The voters across Florida need to understand the unintended consequences of Amendment 3, including increased state control over local budgets, the potential for longer law enforcement and fire-rescue response times, and a reduced ability for communities to fund essential services such as road repairs, animal control and stormwater management. Flagler County is ranked the 39th safest county in America and crime is down over 54 percent since 2017, despite being the sixth-fastest growing county in Florida. This is because we can be a proactive law enforcement Agency with modern technology. I stand ready to work with elected leaders on true tax reform to ensure the great state of Florida and Flagler County continue to be the safest place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Lawmakers passed the ballot 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, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and Staly, who was very critical of the amendment in extended remarks to the Palm Coast City Council in mid-June. (See: “Sheriff Staly Blasts Proposed Homestead Property Tax Amendment as ‘Politics’ That ‘Screw Around With the Cities and the County’.”)
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.
–Ana Goñi-Lessan, News Service of Florida
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