(TALLAHASSEE, Flor.) -- Just over a month ago, OpGov.News posted a NextDoor poll to gauge the community's opinions on Amendment 3 and received over 200 votes.
Photo Credit: NextDoor / Jason Fearon for OpGov.News
The vote shows the community favors Amendment 3 by a marginal amount. In order to pass, however, the bill will need a 60% supermajority, which the poll is just shy of.
Amendment 3 will be on Florida ballots on November 3 and has the potential to drastically decrease every Floridian’s annual property tax.
The only requirement to qualify for the proposed tax exemption is to be a primary resident of Florida. If the legislation passes, select homeowners will be able to access up to $250,000 of tax exemptions, possibly eliminating their homeowners insurance.
Click here to learn more about the exemption formula and how it may affect you.
Although the new legislation would save the average homeowner thousands of dollars, it is important to note that every homeowner would still pay property taxes. Property taxes are split into categories, and the proposed exemptions would be classified as non-school-related exemptions.
Florida Amendment 3 has faced some controversy, and legislators have made adjustments and added clarity in response.
In agreement with many social media comments, Judge David Frank (Leon County) made a ruling to force the Florida Attorney General to rewrite the bill for clarity purposes.
One of the main changes is the removal of the phrase ‘full elimination’ of non-school-related taxes. Although Amendment 3 may eliminate non-school-related property taxes for some, the bill is not written to do so in a widespread manner. The new legislation clearly explains the bill's scope and purpose.
Despite the clarification, Florida Tax Watch is advertising how much Floridians are projected to save in property taxes.
Photo Credit: Florida Tax Watch
Florida Tax Watch is a ‘.org’ website and depicts an estimated 45 billion that Florida municipalities will lose within 5 years of implementation.
Photo Credit: Florida Tax Watch
The site also allows you to see the estimated impact to your community. In the state capital, Tallahassee is expected to miss out on $56 million within the first year of the bills passing. The site predicts Tallahassee will lose over $400 million in expected funding in the next 5 years, and ranks 26 out of 67 counties as having a negative impact.
Click here to type in your name and zip code to see the predictions for your area.
Florida’s political atmosphere has been divided on Amendment 3, similar to the NextDoor poll I recorded.
To Governor Ron DeSantis, Amendment 3 was once the “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes Amendment”. During the Special Legislative Session Florida representatives participated in last summer, Amendment 3 was written alongside community figures such as first responders and police,
The new legislation, as ordered by Judge David Frank, was written by Attorney General James Uthmeier, without community input.
Under Florida law, Uthmeier could not consult outside sources and had limited ability to add to the bill.
Uthmeier could only update the ballot summary and was forced to remove the phrase ‘Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes’.
Photo Credit: Florida Legal
“The amendment could certainly have been rolled out with greater transparency and the meaningful involvement of key stakeholders, including our law enforcement agencies. No one wants to defund our incredible sheriffs, yet there were no discussions to involve them in this process. 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.
Since then, the governor has been less than optimistic about the bill to the media, and the formerly included groups have rebelled.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, “I have never, ever been at the scene of an emergency where someone said, ‘Wow, that burglar breaking into my house, don’t bother sending two cops. I want to save money.’”
Notable groups that have begun to oppose Amendment 3 publicly include several police and firefighter organizations.
Let us know how you feel about Amendment 3! If you have any additions or concerns, be sure to email me at jason.f@lead4earth.org.
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