Did Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly just blast the proposed constitutional amendment to raise the homestead property tax exemption to $250,000 by 2028? Did he just give a path to local officials to oppose the amendment without risking their political lives?
He just did on both counts. And he called on elected officials to do their part to “educate the public” about it.
Since the Florida legislature two weeks ago approved the proposed constitutional amendment for the November ballot, local officials have been hesitant to be openly critical despite facing a historic funding cliff that could reduce traditional government services outside of public safety to skeletal silhouettes.
They’ve called for “exercises” to evaluate what the cuts to their budgets might look like, as the County Commission is doing in an afternoon workshop today. They’ve started taking measures to cut the coming budget. They’ve panicked, as the cuts could all but eliminate services like mosquito control, water management, which are almost entirely dependent on property tax revenue, and severely curtail non-public safety services like code enforcement, parks and recreation, public works and culture.
Palm Coast and Flagler County governments have adopted small but steady reductions in their tax rates over the last several years. Still, with rare exceptions–the East Flagler Mosquito Control District Board Chair Michael Martin is an exception–officials have not publicly attacked the homestead proposal as some have privately, especially in an election year, for fear of being perceived as opponents of tax cuts.
Not so Staly.
In a long statement as surprising for its bluntness as for its prescription and prediction–he is not at all sure that the amendment will pass–Staly said all that state lawmakers did when they approved the proposal was “screw around with the cities and the county.”
He called it “politics.” He called it thoughtless and lacking proper definitions. He all but called lawmakers hypocrites. And he said he’d never seen a proposal of such reach pass the legislature in a mere three-day special session.
“I’m going to try my best to bite my tongue on my opinion on what occurred in Tallahassee,” Staly said. “I’ll probably have more to say about that later. But let’s remember that the voters haven’t spoken yet.” The sheriff was addressing the Palm Coast City Council this morning as part of his annual budget presentation and request–a request that included the addition of nine sheriff’s deputies and a budget increase of $2 million, to $13.5 million.
“I know that there is a perception that voters will vote for it, and they might,” the sheriff said of the homestead proposal, describing how his own property taxes jumped from $3,000 to $8,000 when he moved into the house he had built on the west side of the county a few years ago.
“So I understand the pain,” he continued. “But I also think the voters understand what the legislature did not do. It did not do anything that affected their budget, which is $114 billion. What they did was screw around with the cities and the county. But that’s what they did, in my opinion. It was politics. The leadership won’t even be there when this goes into effect. They’re not having to deal with it. So for whatever reason, this is where we are. But I do believe that with proper education, the voters will make the right decision. And so I would encourage you to not jump off the cliff yet, because I’m not sure we’re there.”
Staly’s political capital is its own Swiss bank account: like his popularity, it has seemed inexhaustible for the past 10 years, though he does not often tap it, especially to oppose a measure that he knows a majority of voters likely favor. When he does, he’s giving cover to local officials to do what they otherwise would have been too fearful to do on their own.
Governments as a body–the City Council, the County Commission–are barred from campaigning for or against political measures. But they are not barred from conducting education campaigns, as local governments and the School Board routinely do when advocating for increases in the sales tax (or preservations of existing sales tax supplements), or when advocating for measures like the Environmentally Sensitive Lands levy on property taxes.
Elected officials in their individual capacity are free to explicitly campaign for or against political measures (or politicians, as Palm Coast Mayor Mike Norris routinely does): nothing stops them from speaking against the proposed homestead amendment (or for it), or campaigning for or against it. Inevitably, they will be asked about their position on it on the campaign trail.
Staly recalled the popularity of the recreational marijuana amendments that failed to reach the 60 percent threshold in 2024 (it got 55.9 percent) after a withering campaign against it by law enforcement and conservative organizations. (A 2022 measure was booted off the ballot by the state Supreme Court when it was judged to be misleading.)
In the case of the homestead exemption proposal, voters themselves won’t be leading any charge against it. Staly put the responsibility on public officials and government associations. “I think it’s up to city and county and leadership organizations to educate the public, so they can make an informed decision, not a decision based on a paragraph that sounds really good,” he said.
Staly said he’d analyzed the bill and noted that it exempts public safety from being defunded. “But there’s no definition on what law enforcement is,” he said. Emergency management, for example, is not included in the exemption, “which is kind of surprising, since we’re a state with hurricanes.” Some counties’ sheriff’s offices run animal control, as in Brevard. Some run emergency management. Some, as in Flagler, run the county jail.
In an interview this afternoon, Staly said counties could theoretically bring certain services–like emergency management–under their fire department or the sheriff’s office, and immediately have those services defined as protected “core” services. He also cast doubt on the assumption that core services would not be affected. Local governments would inevitably cut back on funding even public safety services to diminish the impact of the overall revenue reduction on other services.
“There are dramatic repercussions, and you see that right now,” Staly said. “Law enforcement, fire departments, public safety is protected. Well, what’s protection? Because we’re already seeing it. My understanding is the fire chief in Palm Coast asked for one new position, and it’s not in the budget.”
In the interview, Staly said he had spoken “off the cuff” to the council, but he did not walk back any of the statements he made. Rather, he reasserted some and expanded on others. He said “when the time is right,” he might speak publicly again against the proposed amendment.
He said he hopes the Florida Sheriffs Association will address the subject. He is its secretary and in July will become the association’s vice president. He is hoping to see the association stand up an education campaign on the amendment. As with elected bodies, the association may not explicitly endorse or oppose the proposal.
“Individual sheriffs can say what they want, but I’d hope our association will take a stand to educate the public,” Staly said. “We’ll decide. I don’t know. I know we can’t be the only ones to carry the weight of the education.”
The dude says
Like I said in a previous thread here about this property tax scam Meatball Ron is proposing to wrestle (more) local control away from the communities…
It’s only going to be a problem here in the land of the MAGA morons once it starts to adversely affect Staly’s little militia.
Andy Palm says
Meatball Ron? Another bigoted response from a liberal
JC says
You mean Trump who coined the term Meatball Ron?
Laurel says
Andy Palm:
I have a website you may want to see called Know Your Meme knowyourmeme.com.
“Meatball Ron is a nickname for the current Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis given to him by former President Donald Trump to replace the previous nickname of “DeSanctimonious” ahead of the 2024 political season. Meatball Ron quickly took off on Twitter with people creating memes of Ron DeSantis looking like a Meatball, or comparing him to the character Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”
Now that you know where, and who, the nickname came from, would you please explain to me what “Another bigoted response from a liberal” means?
Geez, you know, research is so easy, yet so few want to do it.
Layla says
Staly’s little militia are called Law Enforcement. Suggest you liberals move back to your liberal states and cites where there is none. You are not going to like what will replace it here.
Skibum says
Staly is speaking the truth. It is republi-CON politics at it’s worst. There will either be substantial and potentially devastating cuts to public services that will have to include both law enforcement and fire/ambulance services, or local governments will alternatively have to come up with some other taxing structure to make up for the huge losses to local government revenue.
And in the meantime, property insurers will likely be re-evaluating both homeowner and renter insurance rate structures and raising premiums when they determine they would have increased liability for payouts due to slower response times and fewer emergency personnel… all because citizens were hoodwinked into voting to cut revenue for local governments without fully understanding the real world implications if this scheme passes.
Local governments are NOT stealing taxpayer dollars! Property tax revenue is critical to pay for a whole host of public services we asked for, and which we all want and/or need. Don’t be fooled with the republi-CON lies and promises of free money! Essential services are not free, and it is important to remember that state officials would never propose such drastic cuts if they directly affected their own budgets. Don’t let them decimate our local services! VOTE NO!
will says
Stanley is going to have to make cuts like everybody else like households have to cut back on certain things in their homes he wants to build an army. I don’t see any deputies doing any traffic control on old King Road where they do 60 miles an hour in a his 8000 property tax in order to pay that he’s doing pretty well so he doesn’t know how the people get very little increased in pensions and Social Security of struggling he’s full of shit. He’s a politician. since we have open carry in 90%. The people have firearms get rid of the sheriffs department. lots of people think Trump is an evil bad president. Well, he’s better than having The Walking Dead for four years and for the lowlife Democrats to be lying to us the American people for four years that he was confident Democrats suck.
Laurel says
“The thalamus plays a crucial role in filtering sensory information, deciding what reaches our consciousness and what is suppressed. Additionally, the Reticular Activating System (RAS) helps prioritize information based on its relevance to survival and emotional significance.”
Search Assist, Medium, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Oh, so that’s it.
D says
Vote yesss!! Only the uneducated would vote no!
JC says
I’m educated enough that if I vote yes I will vote for a bigger state government. Which to me is Anti-Floridan.
Laurel says
Good ahead, D, educate us.
Alex says
So explain how do you justify the unfair tax increases we’ve been getting.
Why if I already pay out the ass should I give the county an extra $1800 every year because I decided to add a pool to my house?
Why will some people down the street pay less. If law enforcement gets deployed to my home they will send the same patrol unit they will send the people down the street. I don’t get 5 extra police cars. I call bullshit
You all just don’t want your gravy train to strop while blowing tax payers dollars on bullshit. Everything gets turned into politics. No one forced you to move to Florida go back to where you came from.
Skibum says
Alex, I bet at some point when you were younger you learned how to balance your checkbook, you took some basic accounting class or lessons thereof in school, and you certainly learned that math works the exact same way for you as it does for your neighbor down the street. But somewhere down the line, your thinker between your ears has apparently started misfiring an mixing up data and statistics with discombobulated nonsense because that neighbor down the street gets the same public services you do because you BOTH are paying for them through property taxes.
If this GOP con game scheme passes because uninformed or hoodwinked people who can’t count properly don’t understand that critical revenue will disappear from both city and county governments, we ALL will suffer the consequences. Both you and your neighbors could face longer response times from both the sheriff’s office and fire department if those vital services are forced to lay off emergency personnel to meet smaller budget restrictions which will definitely be mandated across the board if there is less money coming in.
And getting back to your neighbor compared to you. Right now, you both already pay the exact same amount in property taxes if your assessed properties are the same value, with the exception of any exemptions you or your neighbor may qualify for. It makes no difference if you have a pool or not. But if you decide to later put in a pool, or make any other improvements that increase the assessed value of your home, yes of course your taxes will go up accordingly to address the increased value. The exact same formula applies to your neighbor down the street too, so why do you believe it is relevant to try to compare yourself to them, your home to theirs? You can go to Zillow.com or other sites and see different property values displayed in your neighborhood, just like there is in every neighborhood across the state. And each property owner pays a certain amount of property taxes based on the exact same formula the county uses for everyone. It is not rocket science. But it IS a necessity, especially for the emergency services we expect to have arrive in a timely manner when we need them.
Ray W. says
Hello Skibum.
A news outlet known as The State Columbia SC reports that South Carolina’s legislature just voted to cut its “watercraft tax rate” on boats from 10.5% to 6% and to eliminate the existing separate watercraft tax on boat engines.
The reporter writes that the fiscal effects of the bill will be phased in over three years to allow local governments time to adjust their budgets to their loss of revenue.
Make of this what you will.
Skibum says
Thank you for this additional info. For those who have gone through a previous statewide property tax cut like I have, we know the reality of what is likely to occur here in FL if voters decide to support this scheme without understanding the negative consequences to local governments as well as the negative consequences that will be directly felt by the citizens. It will not be pretty.
Ed says
my question to all of the people that wants to vote no is what stake do you have in the game do you own rental property, vacation rentals,or are you homesteaded in another state. I bet some of you would even reject any added payment each week to Social Security to keep it solvent or raise the taxable threshold on Social Security that would be taxed,yet you condemn Elon Musk for also being greedy 😉
PaulT says
You should probably have checked the Florida property tax rules before you ‘improved’ your property by adding an in-ground pool, something which is assessed throughout the state as a substantial improvement. Doing that canceled your Save Our Homes cap on increased taxeble value (3% a year) and reset your taxes at market value.
The same will happen if you add a screened in porch, a pool enclosure or make structural changes to your house..
Andy Palm says
Exactly. They probably need to order some more 4 wheelers or something
Layla says
It is the value of your property which is increasing which raises your rates. Locally elected officials are not voting to increase your taxes…yet.
Joe says
When they vote on a Tax Rate that is higher than the equalized tax rate adjusted for assessments than they are voting to raise taxes.
Mothersworry says
When folks moved to FL one thing happened for the good of all. We improved the gene pool!
Laurel says
What a ridiculous thing to say! No you obviously did not.
Mark says
Aw, did someone realize his funds would be cut if people pay less taxes? There’s a word for that. Socialism. Socialism pays for cops, firefighters, librarians, road maintenance, etc.
Ron says
Lmao no. That’s not what socialism is.
PaulT says
Good on you Sheriff Staly, but why aren’t the rest of the county and city’s elected officials following suit?
They know Ron’s Homestead Amendment will create a local government funding crisis and strip local government of independence while handing yet more power to Tallahassee. This fear of telling the truth about the consequences of this amendment’s passage is pathetic, though after 20 years in Palm Coast I’m reconciled to any amount of stupidity from the local electorate and their chosen officials.
The state property tax system has issue that certainly neesd revision, one is the lien powers by local tax collectors for default or late payment of locally assessed taxes, but of course the amendment completely ignores it. And despite the promises even the lowest value properties won’t be tax exempt, they will still be paying taxes for schools, if not more. Because one thing is certain, DeSantis cannot be trusted.
Former FCSO says
Spoken like a life long democrat. This sheriff is the very reason this ammendment is needed. Every single election I have been here, since Sheriff Manfre’s first win, every sheriff has boasted how they lowered crime, Staly included. And yet Staly has increased his budget year after year more than any other sheriff in Flagler County history. His administration is top heavy and many deputies make 6 figures in a county where the average family income is much much less. Staly threatens that crime will rise if we don’t keep feeding his coffers and buying toys for him and his deputies. Enough!! If he can’t fight crime without bankrupting us all then we need another sheriff who can!
onewhoknows says
Ugh another gaslighter calling a maga republican sheriff a ‘democrat’. I propose that the homestead exemption be capped at $100,000. Oh dear, now the ‘real estate/developer-bought off elected folk” will have to ‘build more homes” to make up for the lost tax revenue! And they better be NICE, EXPENSIVE homes, eh? Of course, what was going on 100 years ago is once again repeating itself – republicans in office for dccades, regressionn/repression/recession/reversism going on, 1918 flu pandemic/2019 Covid pandemic, dust bowls happening all across our over-tilled, over-farmed, exhausted farmlands as happened in the 1930s, 1929 100th anniversary coming up quickly too… Why is there still a republican party – they invite this, they invite nazis and the kkk to their ranks, they try to break the Constitution in every way they can (not allowed to elect a non-native born President? Hah, run Ted Cruz (Canadian), who can legally never become our President. NEVER. All people ever see is ‘no taxes, yay’ and then wonder why there are no more services, no one to answer the phone, why are there no more road repairs and so many more potholes to bust out your tires, no more mosquito control would make it unbearable to live in this city. This rapid descension into insolvancy started happening around the same time the old council voted themselves a raise from the $11,000 a year they were making (which kept them honest). Vote out republicans, save our city, our economy, our livelihoods, our jobs, our social security, the security of our churches, our schools, our children!
Deborah Coffey says
Wrong answer. We don’t need and shouldn’t have the amendment! We need life long Democrats running our county responsibly! You can’t see the current greedy corruption and theft of the Republican Party in America, in Florida, and in Flagler County? Yikes!
Stephen Smith says
Why do Republicans want to defund the police
Skibum says
Exactly. They are perfectly okay with defunding law enforcement with the excuse that it will save them some bucks on property tax. Wow, so patriotic, huh? And I suppose the same bunch of unpatriotic fools who now want to pay less property taxes and have less cops are the exact same ones who were watching their TVs on Jan. 6, 2021, witnessing the maga mob beat all of those Capitol police officers who were protecting congress and the V.P. Do these republican voters even realize or care that more than 114 police officers were injured by the mob of insurrectionists that day?
The old republican party has morphed into a personality cult that supports the beating and injuring, and now defunding police, all while making excuses for and supporting child sex abusers by hiding the evidence that would have likely led to felony convictions and prison sentences. It absolutely amazes me that there is anyone in America who is okay with supporting such a despicable cultish mob masquerading as a political party!
celia says
If ain’t broke don’t fix it Tally! If they pass this cut then we will loose sleep again while battling in where they will raise taxes next to make up for the loss of revenue. Or worse what cut in services will have to endure. Because for sure the frivolous spending and the overpaid and over staffed administration will not be reduced…
A concerned Observer. says
Well said. Sheriff Staly is not afraid of speaking the truth, and in strong, unflinching words which is clear and easy to understand exactly what needs to be said. No weasel-wording for him. Go Get’em Rick!
Show Me The Money says
The deplorables keep mentioning how they need to “educate the public”. Someone want to “educate” our bank accounts? Where we see the same income, and where that same income now can’t cover expenses. Over 50% of our household income is now gone to the roof over our heads. It was only 30% when moving here years ago. Electric, water, trash, internet, insurance. All up exponentially! Our household income is 25% MORE than the average in this county, along the same lines as the average deputy’s salary. I’m balls to the wall now 60 plus hours a week, and literally running on debt now. $5500 a year property tax on a 3/2 1800sf that started out at 2800.
I’ll be “educating” the dim witted that have been running Florida into the gutter over two decades now come November.
An old man depositing over twenty grand into his bank account every month, not having to worry about car expenses, gas, health insurance, phone, internet, on and on has the gonads to talk about “educating the public”. Money (or lack thereof) in our bank accounts is real. Damn your helicopters. Damn your potholes. Damn your private school scholarship. Show me the money! Y’all figure out how not to spend later, just like we have to do right now.
Born yesterday says
I will say it, the state GOP move to abolish property tax is hypocritical. The state is saying locals are stealing money but the state literally “lost” $200,000,000 slated for education. This isn’t a hyperbolic number. They literally cannot account for the money.
And more evidence of the hypocrite vibe they are legislating with, conservative values as defined by our founding fathers priortized local taxation where the people are directly represented in how their tax money is used and literally went to war to fight for local rights over heads of powerful wealthy individuals ruling from afar.
Now Uncle Ron wants us to write grants to fund our park and rec services and trust them with our safety and well being. But they can’t even fund schools. They have hundreds of millions of dollars they can’t even account for. That is not hyperbolic, they literally lost two hundred million dollars slated for education. Just gone. And when the educational grants ask for money to support staff they are literally told to, “shut up and be happy you got anything, it’s enough.” They underfunded schools so bad the st. Johns school board forced virtually every administrator of retirement age out to meet budget. One of the only A districts in education isn’t even being given enough from Uncle Ron to function.
Further hypocrisy is illustrated in the wrestling of power away from local governments and giving it to bad state actors. Again, this is exactly what conservative forefathers cautioned and went to war against. In their writing they say states should be getting their prioties from local municipalities, Uncle Rons proposal is exactly backwards, with the head of state flexing absolute control of local municipalities in an effort to consolidate wealth and strip power away from the citizens. Moving decision making hundreds of miles away from those it effects. This is not conservative by any stretch of the word. But in my opinion the GOP abandoned their conservative values a long time ago. So this fiasco could screw everyone just do Rons buddies from McKinzie can get jobs denying grants because they all lost the honey pot they were hoping too dip out of when they were stopped from developing our state parks.
And developing our city parks like princess place and preventing us establishing more conservation land is their primary goal in my opinion. They want to strip us of our land, money, and power with this bill
Canary says
This is nothing but a financial giveaway to the GOP’s political base – old, white and wealthy, and much more likely to be homeowners than the average person. The burden will end up being born disproportionately by lower income people in the form of increased property tax rates on NON-homesteaded properties, and in regressive sales taxes and other fees for local government services that we’ve taken for granted were affordable or free until now. There’s no free ride and we’ll end up paying one way or the other.
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor, PC says
Love our Sheriff, but as I have stated before: “DON’T FALL FOR SCARE TACTICS!” I fully support this amendment. As the former Vice-Mayor of Palm Coast I know first hand how our elected officials and overpaid bureaucrats waste our hard earned money. Time for them to finally do what we all do at home, which is manage our money responsibly, tighten our belts, and a lot of times simply do without. No more “Tax & Spend Pontieri” and no more foolish “Pet Projects” for political friends! Our “must haves” like police and fire will be funded. VOTE YES!
JimboXYZ says
The budgeting process will become more transparent. What used to be a Property tax item will be shifted to a Utility fee &/or rate item on a monthly bill. Cost of infrastructure will still go up. And this is a way to get monthly payments instead of the annual property tax bill that it’s always been. That line item of City of Palm Coast on our property taxes disappears, we’ll see a line item or few more in the Utility bills every month. From what I understand of it, Flagler County School property tax will not be affected by te legislation. Everything not School tax related on a Property tax bill goes on the monthly utility bill as line items. And then there is no homestead exemption or “Save Our Homes” State program to be protected by a increase in homestead Exemption amount. This is still gonna cost more every year & the math (meth) is how they indicate a budget/cost item vs when they collect it. Staly would be facing this scrutiny just the same as he does every year for a budget. The Homesteaded property taxes on everything non-school has not been passed by voters. Guess what, he still is facing heat for budget increases. The current property tax General Fund is a slush fund that catches everything non-school to be moved around and voted on. Behind the budgeting & scenes, rates will be mathematically backed into for a fee & rates, just like the Sewage Treatment Facilities for the Utility bill. Brace yourselves for that inflationary bend over for unpredictable utility bills that simply go up, never go down. There won’t be any usage rates for police & fire in terms of volume like metered city water gallons per month. The hints are on every bill, how the alternative revenue process for a cycle will have to be implemented.
Look at how & what the $ 15/hour minimum wage thing turned out like since 2020 when it passed. Every corporation & government used that State of FL heel dragging to actually get to $ 15/hour by 2026. Inflation at those minimum wage increased & arose before anyone earned a single penny o the $ 10, 11-15 annual implementation. Labor got screwed, because the inflation of Bidenomics coupled with State’s that had alternative incremental increases just left consumer purchasing power even further behind. It’s like all the growth that was supposed to pay for itself. Growth & new residents came after the infrastructure was stretched to beyond capacity. So the base 92K residents that already lived in pre-existing construction is now paying for the growth. I see too many rental duplexes up for rent, that attrition of transient renter turnover. Too many new construction properties up for sale for the Biden/DeSantis/Alfin era growth. How much of it was illegal immigrants tenancy or some other subsidized DEI tenancy ?
Police & Fire, other infrastructure revenue process & cycle will have to become a more transparent line item, collected more frequently. It’s still under the control of the Cities to be voted on. Just like the STF increases for $ 1/2 plus billion for Growth & the Vision of 2050. Inflation will happen to that too.
Mr. Bill says
The only thing standing in the way of being completely taxed out of our homes right now is the Florida Save Our Homes Act. Without that we would all be paying taxes amounting to “what our homes could sell for”. For retiree’s (this is the retirement state after all) it would amount to having to sell our homes to corporate robbers and go rent somewhere, with ever increasing rents!
If you bought your home for under 100K and it is now “worth” 500K, taxes alone would be over 15K per year if Save Our Homes did not exist. That’s $1250 a month….add insurance both liability, hurricane and flood–you are looking at almost $2000.00 per month. The average annual income for the “average” Flagler Beach resident is 56K per year or 4665.00 pe month–before taxes. If you are making payments on your mortgage at an average 1200.00 per month and add this insurance and the taxes, you are way over 50% of your income.
Happy retirement.
All this does is stave off the taxman for a little while longer. I’m voting for it. You should too.
Here’s the calculator put up by the State to see exactly what your personal tax bill will be in the future. Try it.
https://www.saveourhomesfl.com/#savings
So, maybe the Cities and the Counties can’t have all brand-new trucks every year and we won’t send 10 men out to do a two-man job. Maybe we will get some sanity to retirement pensions for county and city workers.
Case in point. The Flagler Beach Police Chief that just retired. His pension was the exact same amount as his salary was when he was working full time. He only had 9 years with the City.
They just won’t have unlimited money for a while.
Cisco says
All I have to say is Sheriff Staly tell us the value of your home and then see if you can relate to seniors living on just social security and the hardships that they are facing. I can show you 5 different forms of revenue that the city and county could activate that would have most of the new monies coming from out of state and tourist paying a large majority of this revenue. We already fund alot of items that listed on our water bills. I really can see your issues because the large amount of the budget goes to your department. I am not being funny saying that alot of safety depends on the citizens of our city and county.I provide my own security in my domicile with a 12 Gauge,so tell them to just come on in,maybe more people should consider this ,it’s alot cheaper than our tax burdens. I also have never had a ticket in this county because I obey the laws,and I have lived here for 16 years and Palmcoast is not like the wild, wild west. I think that if our council, commissioners,and you use a little thought on other revenue sources, y’all can come up with taxes that are user paid and mostly through tourist .I want to think that y’all are smart Republicans and not Republicons !
JimboXYZ says
And as I laid out monthly the possibility of alternative monthly payments by the masses. There are quarterly (3 month), semi-annual (6 moth) and even an annual option of moving line items from Property Tax to Utility & Other Services billings. Too many act like the uncertainty of what this will affect the community vs how revenues are collected for anything. Everything from credit cards to smartphone service/streaming (cable) tv has always been billed & paid for that way. That’s just the economics of how bills come due & are paid off for actually transference. of money. I never said the revamp of the system was going to be easy or cheap. It’s like the internal backend for any IT conversion. The corporation, in this case government will try to make the transition as seamless as possible for a non-glitchy transition. It all depends on how it’s implemented. There will be a Utility & Other Services sticker shock each month for what appears to be a gouge of an increase, but residents will have to perceive it as their former property tax bill being spread out over 12/4/2 monthly/querterly/semi-annual payments instead of the options of earlier payments for their property taxes. I think it would be monthly payments, simply because there are too many transient rentals & deadbeat utility bills that the City would not want to see go to a debt collector for default & collections. But even those non-payments would most likely become City liens on property owners.
I lived in Country Walk, FL. I bought a condo one year (late Jan/early Feb 2014, Obama era). 2 years later (2016, still Obama era) I had to sell off to become a caregiver for my father for the last 2 years of his life. When I bought the condo unit (a single unit of a quadplex single story dwelling, much like the 2X duplex here in Palm Coast) there were no liens from 2004/2005 for a water utility bill. Yet when I sold it Miami-Dade (because that’s the quarterly billing & non property tax method rather than a city utility) charged a $ 700 line item for the Bush era fraud & abuse of property flipping for the deadbeat previous owner. I was furious to say the least. Why I was paying some Ez’s water bill default from a decade before I bought the property. That should’ve been the seller’s burden when I bought the property in 2014 or anytime it was sold or resold prior to my purchase between 2005 & 2013, not somehow become my burden & unexpected lien selling it in 2016.
My point is, they’re going to inflate it, going to collect it and it’s potentially going to be passed on as a delinquent account/lien collection. It’s the same budgeting process, just a different format. And somehow, there will be the smoke & mirrors of the budgeting genius at the county or city halls. Awards & accolades for the creative financing that is no more creative than it ever was. The new revenue system will be touted as better, create the same anxiety it always has created. Bottom line is Staly will still chase new staff & equipment, it will be more transparent on a billing to residents. FCSO either needs more resources or they don’t. His sales pitch doesn’t really change much. Bunnell & Flagler Beach have separate police force, Palm Coast does not. He kinda has a monopoly really for policing Palm Coast. Bunnell & Flagler County have lighter duty police for their city police. They still contract service with FCSO for the heavier lifting for police services. Bunnell & Flagler Beach don’t have a SWAT team & there is that threat of the individual(s) that require SWAT team interventions. Just Sunday the home invasion & shooting is just one of them. There was also another incident recently enough, beachside an individual that was wandering his condo/apartment with a rifle. That’s a SWAT team level intervention.
One last point ? By going to Utility & Other Services monthly billings, a hybrid of fee & rate usage tied to water consumption is a better way to spread the costs of the Infrastructure more fairly ? People commit crimes, I bet a study of the crimes & 911 calls, we find these overutilized for occupancy dwellings have the parents &* children that get the most frequent FCSO & Fire visits. More people is always indicated by higher water usage for gallons per month (showers & toilet flushes if you will). There won’t be any hiding that. A lot of the crime, both reported & unreported are juveniles too. The FCSO 9 PM lock up campaign is real. The adults have their share of crime, so do the juvenile delinquents. One thing you’ll notice ? The overutilized dwellings are the higher utilization in any/every neighborhood for even ordinance violations. Whether it’s a drug house dealer situation or an addict, they go hand in hand in some lopsided correlation with water consumption. Get those other services off the property tax bills & onto the utility bills as line items, the costs will be more prone to inflation, as well as not being tied to property assessments & homestead exemptions, which is the point of raising the homestead exemption from $ 25/50K to $ 250K/500K (single/married). You read it here 1st on FlaglerLive, just my warning & assessment of the new Homestead legislation of FL.
Just me, but it’s the next round of Bidenomics that we inherited form Biden-Harris direction. The soft landing we paid for inflation 4 of the last 5+ years is crashing harder and Biden-Harris aren’t around to take their share of the blame. It’s Trump-Vance that gets hit with the crash of trying to prolong the inevitable crash of Biden-Harris. This was going in that direction under Biden-Harris-Walz. And I warned of that from Jan 2021-present. Trump can only do so much to unf*ck what Biden-Harris set into motion. Remember it was Harris-Walz in those debates, that stated “we weren’t going back”, that maybe she had solution(s) to fix unaffordable housing. Her fixes were either a Bush-Obama bailout crash or more inflation. Trump-Vance slowed inflation, never got close to stagflation or outright recession/depression economy. The latter of those & the economy collapses to bailout of what happened Bush => Obama. And in the end, we all paid for the bailouts of 2008-1012, just as we had the misery of 8 years of W Bush. And it was miserable, yet nothing like what the last 5-6 years has been. We have a choice, bailout inflation & collapse of Bush => Obama or we get the Bidenomics of BS of the last 5-6 years & beyond. Who is really fixing who’s economic incompetence ? And who get credit for saving unaffordable USA economies of any party’s team of overpaid dolts. There is no perfect system or solution. Parties both go back & forth, the finger pointing, timing the collapses to fall on the other. Westward expansion is squarely a Biden-Harris fail, all the approvals were politicians on both sides buying into Bidenomics.
Tired of it says
Here you go again, blaming Pres. Biden for everything. Your hero was in office before and is in office now. What is he doing to fix any of those problems? Too busy with the Epstein War, giving billions back to Iran, building ballrooms and arches and holding cage fights. Your “blame it on Bidenomics” is as tired as trump’s ” the election was stolen” It is the maga way, never take responsibility for anything, blame whatever it is on the other guy.
Judy M says
Everyone always screams about tax cuts for the rich, and every year govenrments go through the painful process of considering raising taxes and how no one wants to do that. And now there is an opportunity to genuinly help “the little guy” and we don’t want that either?? WTH?? This is not an elimination of taxes, it is a reduction in taxes for homestead property owners. It will exempt up to the first $250,000 of value, after that you pay the tax. Let the government cut costs and frivoulous spending, especially the greedy sheriff, and learn to maximize tax dollars for their intended use. It’s easy to not want the amendment when you can actually afford to live. For all the “smart” people who will vote against the amendment, perhaps there can be an OPT in option so you can continue to pay your current tax rate. Praying it passes to help this low income single senior have a few extra dollars every month.
Shisty says
I’m voting for this just because Staly says not to! This dude never speaks up unless it means him and Deb will have a pay cut….or he can’t get yet ANOTHER new helicopter or toy. He got “gifted” a new helicopter last year. Why does he need more money? Because he has to pay an enormous amount of insurance on that thing! Wake up people!! He uses fear mongling every year to get more money from us!
If he’s speaking up on it-just know it’s affecting his pocket. When will SOMEONE run against this shisty clown? He scares every senior in this community to act like we are turning into
Compton and he needs more money to protect them. Talk to other local sheriffs-they all think he is a clown!
Joe says
It’s a scheme to make Ronnie look good for 2028.
The proposal is an unfunded mandate on localities that will require the localities to raise taxes on others or make huge budget cuts to Schools, Public Safety, Transportation and Parks.
The tax burden would be shifted to Businesses, Snowbirds and landlords that will pass on the costs to tenants.
As a snowbird and landlord, I will consider selling if the taxes increase again. The mass exodus could cause the housing bubble to pop once again. The housing market is already stressed.
The high taxes and high water bills are to the point it’s not worth it to me to pay when I use zero water and services for 9 moths of the year. Palm Coast is lucky to have my tax money from my low impact activity and my high spending while I’m in town.
No, Unfunded Mandates, unless he is proposing to reimburse localities for the lost revenue! If not, Ronnie needs to stay in his lane and not mess with local tax authority!
Ed says
GOODBYE!
Imdoneandlovingit says
So let me get this straight, and correct me if I’m wrong. This clownish tool Staly…probably a lifelong republican that voted time and time again for people that wanted to gut all systems in this country so they could cut taxes for the wealthy, now suddenly doesn’t approve of everything he has stood for because it might take away some of his toys?
Republicans have been trying to destroy the public school system for decades. That’s what it is really about. They have effectively succeeded, people just don’t realize it yet. It’s done. It’s dead. This homestead tax reduction is just the death knell. This is terribly sad. As a huge leftist, I believe in things like public schools, or like, equal rights and stuff. However, I’m all for it. Right wingers like Staly have created a system in this country where a real large swath of us struggle beyond belief. He is trying to pretend to be noble, but for someone that has 8k in property taxes…it doesn’t seem like he’s struggling too hard with money. My 2.5k a year in property taxes is eating me alive. If the entire system is already destroyed and a joke, screw it, I’m going to get mine wherever I can get it. This is what you voted for Rick Staly. He can go get F’d. Oh so sorry, you can’t drain more money from the taxpayers and get a whole bunch of drones and try to turn this town into a police state where you can further bilk its residents with a bunch of coked up and rhoided out cops hanging out in cul de sacs, bored and looking for people to jam up? Boo Hoo.
“So I understand the pain” …BS How much tax payer money does this clown get? How much is this socialist living off the government teat? lol, seriously?
When will these privileged residents of Flagler county realize they are getting backdoored by an absolute loser like this guy? Sadly, probably never.
Greg says
Gee, I guess my comments are being blocked. Total bullshit and more proof that the press is rigged
FlaglerLive says
Actually Greg your comment was fine such as it was, as have been the 361 comments of yours that have been approved over time according to our records. You made your comment and immediately assumed it was being held back, only because moderation hadn’t come around to approving it. Since you’re so eager to let your entitled presumptions get the better of you, we will now block your comment. You’re welcome to resubmit, more respectfully. And with patience. This isn’t your sandbox.
Jay Tomm says
Many Trump supporters know this is a bad idea & are NOT behind it. To classify it as a rep or Trump thing shows the ignorance on this & is just Trump hate. Many rep’s hate desantis. The amendment process is also a backdoor way to pass laws & was NEVER intended to function like this. THAT needs to be changed. Dems use it too.
If Florida people from either side are dumb enough to pass this thing they deserve what they get. Say hello to a FL state tax!
Proud Voter says
If this was a good idea every state in the country would be doing it and guess what they are not doing this because it is a ridiculous idea drummed up by DeSantis.
Don’t go for it, it is not in the favor of property owners, it is stripping services that are needed.
Tony says
The sad thing is that the low intelligence maga supporters will vote yes !!!!
DaleL says
Isn’t that the hidden purpose of the amendment? It is to give the MAGA voters a reason to go to the polls. Trump’s poll numbers are in the toilet. Without this amendment, many of his previous supporters might just stay home in November.
Billy says
It’s about time that Staly’s gravy train comes to a halt. When was the last time you actually saw one of his deputies on a traffic stop without having four or five others just hanging around. I travel on I95 every day and see them out there running stationary radar. I always thought that the interstate highways were HPB-s rsponsibility.
Tony says
Go ahead and vote for this scam. Where will the money come from to support Public Safety, Schools and general County and City upkeep?
Pogo says
Looks like a new pack-a-phone-booth record.
Carry on.
T says
Republicans want to hurt poor or working class people and tax cuts would hurt city and rural and fl is a political stunt
Over It says
I’m voting No because I don’t want the State telling OUR community what we can or cannot have with OUR tax money.
All this bill does is take away YOUR power to see your taxes go where you want them to go.
You don’t like how the current administration in the City or County are handling your taxes? Vote them out! You have less of a choice when the State gets to decide what we can or cannot have. Yes, you can vote someone else into the State but they’re not local, and they aren’t representing us the way our local officials do. I want my money, my taxes, to go to my fellow neighbors, to the streets, for the parks, for the schools, to our public safety organizations, to arts, culture, and history! I want my taxes to impact my local community and our community gets to choose how we spend OUR money!!
If the current State administration REALLY wanted to help Floridians out, they would do something about the housing insurance issue we’re having! Rather than do a quick voter grab at the cost of our community.
I truly never understand why people grumble about local taxes so much, when you can literally see where our tax dollars are going. I’d rather see my taxes help, support, and beautify my community rather than go elsewhere and fund things I don’t agree with and has no impact on the community. Do taxes suck sometimes, yes! But they also make our community thrive.
RobdaSlob says
Ugh, this is why I struggle to support politicians.
This comes across as a typical rage bait approach that lacks specificity and details which leads me to believe he is just afraid of change.
I need this guy to be objective and not bring me the problem statement or worse push back that it isn’t a problem. Bring us solutions.
It is naive to think that people are not frustrated property tax. I couldn’t imagine being a young couple purchasing a home in Florida for the first time. Our state legislators are pushing this to ballot because they are reacting to what they hear from their voters. Accept that issue is real.
What would help me more in my decision making is to hear how he will handle this if he is tasked to reduce his budget.
– If he tells me he has to sell his helicopter – meh I haven’t been convinced he needs it.
– If he tells me he has to cut the number of deputies – well there are formulas for deputy to citizen ratios that we collectively can decide what works.
– If he thinks outside the box and proposes how we could have a single police force and get rid of the Bunnel and Flagler Beach departments and what the cost savings would be – which other counties have done through out the US – then whether I agreed with him or not I would at least thank him for being creative.
His fear of this initiative leads me to believe he doesn’t like the fact that if this passes he will have a much harder job kind of makes me think he needs oversight or a forcing function like this initiative. And then I think maybe he shouldn’t be Sheriff.
shark says
It breaks my heart to hear Staly complain about his taxes going up $8000, He moved from the Plantation to a waterfront home on Crescent Lake, 3,000 square feet on a 5+ acre lot valued at 1 million +,