A group of Tallahassee and Leon County leaders, along with citizens, are speaking up in opposition of a proposed new tax to fund a slew of services for children. They say the effort wouldn’t give voters what’s advertised.
The Children’s Services Council will go before local voters in November, with the stated goal of improving early education readiness, mental and physical health of children, and providing nutritional assistance. A vote in favor of the council is a vote in favor of a new tax to fund it and its services.
City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow is part of a coalition that bills itself as bipartisan and has taken on the name “No Blank Check.”
“While the planning committee was tasked with demonstrating the need for a CSC, I think they have shown quite the opposite,” Matlow told media Wednesday. “They’ve shown that the need in our community far exceeds what can be accomplished with an $8 million annual tax that can barely scratch the surface. The CSC is proposing a band-aid, when we are in need of a hospital.”
Matlow says he initially supported the idea at face value, but upon learning more about how it would function, can’t back it.
Emily Fritz, who has run for local office before and chairs the “No Blank Check” coalition, also voiced concerns:
“This coalition includes people of all political stripes, both liberal and conservative. The Children’s Services tax is a blank check,” Fritz said, a nod to the newly-formed group’s name. “There is no plan for how the money will be spent, what the expected results will be, and how to measure the results.”
If approved by voters, the Children’s Services Council will be made up of unelected members – half of them comprised of appointees from Governor Ron DeSantis. They’ll decide how the tax money is used, and what services those dollars fund.
County Commissioner Bill Proctor also has concerns about the council. He proposed taking a different tack and instead creating a “Children’s Services Agency,” made up of elected rather than appointed members.
The creation of the proposed council and new tax isn’t without its backers.
Kelly Otte, who has been involved with several local nonprofits and is running for a seat on the County Commission, said this about the CSC during a recent Political Perspectives program:
“It’s all attached – the poverty is attached, crime rate is attached, and the fact that children are living under dire circumstances is all attached,” Otte said. “So, what we have to do is as early an intervention as we possibly can with the children.”
Carolyn Cummings, vying for the same County Commission seat, backs the creation of a CSC.
