Duval and neighboring St. Johns, Clay, Nassau and Baker counties would face a combined $500 million per year loss of property taxes if voters slash tax bills by boosting the homestead exemption, an outcome that local officials say will hurt everyday services used by residents.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan launched the sharpest attack on the proposed constitutional amendment by branding it a “Tallahassee takeover.” She said it would leave local governments to pick up the pieces and the fallout would result in some libraries, community pools and parks closing in Jacksonville.
Deegan said city-maintained roads would be in worse shape because Jacksonville would have less money for resurfacing, more homeless people would be on the streets and the city wouldn’t be able to build new fire stations that keep emergency response times from growing.
“State politicians who won’t have to deal with the consequences are taking out the load-bearing wall for our city without having anything there to keep the roof from caving in,” Deegan said about the importance property taxes have for local government services.
Officials in St. Johns and Clay counties also said their residents would experience noticeable drops in services.
“This is going to be, to say it lightly, revolutionary to St. Johns County or catastrophic, however you see it,” St. Johns County Administrator Joy Andrews said June 2 at a County Commission meeting.
Clay County said in a statement to residents the proposed change in property taxes would cut funding “for your everyday services.”
The proposed constitutional amendment placed on the November ballot by the state Legislature at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis will ask votes if they want to raise the current $50,000 homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028.
More than 60% of state voters would need to support the amendment for it to pass.
DeSantis and lawmakers supporting the change say it will cut thousands of dollars from a homeowner’s property tax bill without hurting core city services because counties and cities have been on a spending spree.
“If you believe that people need relief, and you think that’s important, and I do, it’s hard to argue against it,” DeSantis said at a recent briefing about his “Save Our Homes” proposal.
He has said when the homestead exemption reaches the $250,000 threshold, 60% of homeowners will be tax-free for non-school property taxes “and these are not people that founded Google. These are working class, middle class people.”
Facts and figures for Northeast Florida counties
St. Johns County commissioners took no position for or against the proposal but directed staff to create a fact sheet for the public.
Commissioner Christian Whitehurst outlined a scenario where the county keeps intact funding for the Sheriff’s Office and fire department and then struggles to carry out all the other services in a growing county such as running parks, paving roads, maintaining drainage pipes, supporting veterans and Health and Human Services programs, and paying for elections.
“If think if people will just have the facts — if we’ll put out a fact sheet — then they can go to the polls and if they want to abolish the Parks and Recreation Department, then they can do that with their eyes wide open,” Whitehurst said. “That is their right.”
In Jacksonville, the city would lose about $193 million in the 2027-28 budget when the homestead exemption rises to $150,000, according to estimates by the Property Appraiser’s Office. The gap would grow to about $300 million in the 2028-29 budget when the homestead exemption is $250,000. The city’s budget this year is just over $2 billion.
St. Johns County would face a $60 million loss in its 2027-28 budget and that would grow to $113 million in 2028-29 compared to what the county would get if the homestead exemption stayed at $50,000, according to figures it received from the Florida Association of Counties.
Clay County would lose nearly $36 million in 2027 and then the gap would be $58 million in 2028, according to the Florida Association of Counties. The organization’s projection for Nassau County is $20 million in the first year and $35.5 million the second year. Baker County faces a loss of $2.6 million the first year and it would be $3.9 million the second year.
Clay County issued a statement saying the proposed change for property taxes would have “widespread impacts” hurting emergency response times, road and park maintenance, outdoor recreation facilities, animal control, libraries and community programs.
“Clay County continuously leads the way to run as efficiently as possible while getting the most value for taxpayer dollars,” the county said by noting its spending is 51st out of 67 counties while it has the 25th biggest population.
But the financial impact of the proposed changes would be too much to absorb, the statement says.
“In short, these proposed changes will create less funding for your everyday services and fewer local choices,” the statement says.
The Florida Association of Counties shows that in 2028, Clay County would face a 33% cut in the amount of property taxes it collects, which would be the second-highest percentage decline among the state’s 67 counties.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Northeast Florida leaders say tax cut would hit ‘everyday services’
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
