Florida Tax Watch, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, said it would be better if voters defeated Amendment 3, a major property tax cut for homeowners, asserting it fails to keep municipal spending in check and hurts vulnerable Floridians.
The Legislature will have a greater opportunity next year when the 25-member Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission convenes to review, among other things, the state overall tax structure, Florida Tax Watch President Jeff Kottkamp told USA Today Network-Florida.
“We’re not opposed to property tax reform,” said Kottkamp. “But if you don’t also have some guardrails for how big local government budgets can grow, then you really haven’t accomplished anything.”
The Commission could determine how to provide a property tax cut for Florida homeowners without hurting rural and bedroom communities, he said.
Kottkamp is a former Republican lieutenant governor, who served under then-Gov. Charlie Crist. In the meantime, the GOP — which put Amendment 3 on the ballot — has a conflicting message.
Attorney General James Uthmeier levied similar criticism as Tax Watch, and, of course, Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he won’t campaign for the measure, which he feels did not live up to his original proposal.
Why Florida Tax Watch opposes Amendment 3
Tallahassee forged Amendment 3 in a June special session called by DeSantis, but what is really needed is a data-driven approach rather than a quick ballot fix, Kottkamp said.
In a policy analysis, Florida Tax Watch said Amendment 3 would be “the largest change to fiscal structure of Florida government in our state’s history,” calling it “unwise and unnecessary.”
The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission is a constitutionally mandated body that convenes every 20 years It can place amendments on the ballot and make recommendations to the Legislature, is next scheduled to meet in 2027.
“We would rather take our time and get it right,” Kottkamp said.
How could local governments find other revenue if Amendment 3 passes in Florida?
Kottkamp argued local governments could simply offset any revenue loss from a reduced tax cap by raising fees or finding other revenue streams — leaving taxpayers no better off.
“There’s no prohibition from local governments just offsetting the revenue losses with increased fees,” he said.
Amendment 3 would increase the homestead exemption for existing homeowners from $25,000 to $250,000 in two years. It also lowers the cap on non-homesteaded properties, such as commercial buildings and rental units, from 10% to 5%.
But Amendment 3, Kottkamp said, is a one-size-fits-all for all municipalities and counties when they are hardly homogeneous. Rural counties and bedroom communities would be hit hardest.
“There’s a range from cities from 10 to 90% on how much of their budget is from property tax,” he said. “So there’s some places where it could be catastrophic if you don’t create some mechanism for those places to get alternative funding.”
A well-researched proposal could include protections for vulnerable groups, such as seniors on fixed incomes, he added.
Rep. Monique Miller, R-Palm Bay, said the Legislature studied the property tax issue thoroughly before finally settling on Amendment 3.
“I’ve been living and breathing it for 18 months,” she said.
If Amendment 3 passes, municipalities will be forced to assess what services are really needed at a community level, said Miller, who sponsored the first attempt at the property tax amendment during the Legislature’s regular session.
“We have tools out there, like AI, that can go do this and try and identify some of the things that are on the books that cost local governments money but don’t produce any meaningful impact to constituents,” she said.
Could children’s programs and summer camps be cut?
A possible unintended consequence of Amendment 3 would be to drastically reduce the money going to 11 children’s councils, trusts and boards in Florida that rely on ad valorem property taxes.
The councils provide safety-net services for children and families. Families who rely on public summer camps as de facto child care when school’s out have expressed worry that cities would cut those programs if they lose tax revenue.
“Thousands upon thousands of children in Florida go to a summer camp that is directly supported via property taxes,” said Holly Bullard, chair of Floridians for Shared Prosperity, a political committee opposed to Amendment 3.
Opponents, such as Bullard’s group, and municipalities have been working to get their message out, but they have been getting an assist from some key Republicans.
The Legislature’s proposed language had to be renamed and revised by Uthmeier after attorneys for a nonprofit group and three former Florida politicians challenged the wording in court. The attorney general said the initaitive’s rollout should have had greater transparency and meaningful involvement of key stakeholders, especially law enforcement.
Why police and firefighters oppose Amendment 3
The Florida Sheriffs Association, Florida State Fraternal Order of Police and Florida Professional Firefighters have come out against Amendment 3, saying municipal budget cuts will eventually hit public safety.
The Sheriff’s association said Amendment 3 “allows Tallahassee to control your local budgets, creates longer law enforcement response times, limits communities’ abilities to provide road repairs and stormwater removal — these are a few of things voters deserve to be aware of.”
Uthmeier said, “No one wants to defund our incredible sheriffs, yet there were no discussions to involve them in this pass.”
And like Kottkamp, Uthmeier seems to be foreseeing the amendment’s defeat.
“If it does not pass, I look forward to working with the legislature and our law enforcement leaders on comprehensive tax relief that protects public safety,” he said in a statement.
If Amendment 3 passes, Miller said more work remains.
“I don’t think this conversation is going away,” she said.
John Pacenti is the Government Impact Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida Tax Watch lambasts Amendment 3’s property tax reform as a rush job
Reporting by John Pacenti, USA TODAY Network-Florida / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Pacenti, USA TODAY Network-Florida | USA TODAY Network
