Florida’s financial future is in the hands of voters in this upcoming general election.
Amendment 3 is far from Florida’s first attempt at significantly changing property taxes in the Sunshine State, but it could prove to be the most impactful.
The amendment, titled “Increased Homestead Exemption; Lower Cap on Increases in Non-Homestead Property Assessments” aims to significantly decrease what Florida homeowners would be paying in property taxes.
One of the people who would reap the benefits of Amendment 3 is Jacksonville resident James Denisco.
An educator and homeowner in the city’s Westside for about 15 years, Denisco says he isn’t waiting on November’s election results to get property tax relief. He says those taxes have been a main factor in his family’s decision to leave Duval County for Palm Coast. The move would cut over half his property taxes, from the more than $4,000 a year that he pays now, to $1,800 annually.
“I think anybody, including all the way down to a household, has to operate under a budget,” Denisco said. “I don’t see why that would be a terrible thing for governments to have to work within [a budget]. If the money is being used appropriately, I wouldn’t have a problem with budget restrictions.”
While he recognizes how Amendment 3 would help him financially, he sees property taxes as a necessary evil.
“You have to have services in a community. You have to have police force, you have to have fire departments, emergency workers… I would (just) like to have more accountability on how the monies are spent,” he said.
Much of the funding that supports public services like police and fire come from property taxes. The Florida Sheriffs Association and police and firefighter unions have come out against Amendment 3. In an ad, the Florida Sheriffs Association said the amendment “rips out Florida’s biggest source of public safety funding with no plan to replace it.”
Amendment 3 is structured to gradually raise the homestead property tax exemption to $250,000 by 2028 and slow tax growth on rentals and other non-homestead property. It also limit how counties and cities can spend property tax money. The only carve-out is to leave in place the funding structure for public schools.
Florida Tax Watch, a state budget watchdog, says an estimated $45.8 billion would be cut from local property taxes in the next five years if Amendment 3 passes.
Andy Janecek, the public relations director for the Leon County Property Appraiser's Office, is cautious about how the potential modifications in funding could impact local governments.
“Reducing the local property tax base, which is one of the primary funders of local government services, could require local governments to adjust tax rates.” Janecek said. “A lot of those things that are funded through property taxes include libraries, parks and recreation, emergency medical services, water quality.”
The elimination or even a significant deduction in property tax revenue would force local governments to find other ways to gather the necessary funds. Raising sales taxes, becoming considerably dependent on state funding, decreasing the budgets of some essential services or even cutting them altogether could be very real possibilities for some small counties. In its original draft before the legislature, Amendment 3 included a trust fund for counties that would end up struggling, but that language was removed prior to the Amendment passing the legislature.