Proposal offers voters a choice: Save money or cut government services, panel says

A proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot could give some Florida homeowners a break on their property taxes, but concerns linger on how it would affect government’s ability to provide services to a growing population.

If Amendment 1 is approved by 60 percent of voters on Nov. 6, the $25,000 between $100,000 and $125,000 of a home’s value would be exempted from property taxes other than school district taxes. If approved, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2019.

Currently, there is a homestead exemption on the portion of home values between $0 and $25,000 and $50,000 and $75,000.

“It isn’t a tax cut because you can’t cut anything that you don’t have,” retired attorney Kenneth Piper said as part of a two-person panel discussing the proposal during a Manatee Tiger Bay luncheon Thursday.

Piper, who supports the amendment, said although it could prevent Manatee County from collecting $8.3 million in revenue, it wouldn’t affect the county’s budget until 2020. The county has also been putting aside money in case the amendment is passed, which Commissioner Robin DiSabatino called a “rainy day fund.”

“The sky in fact is not falling and will not fall as a result of this provision,” Piper said. “Some people say that our local government will not be able to supply us with roads, bridges, water, sewer. I think it’s pretty safe to say that’s not true.”

DiSabatino added the fund was in no way an indication of the county’s position on the amendment. When she asked the room to raise their hands if they were in support of or against the measure, many members of the county administration, including County Administrator Ed Hunzeker, were against it.

“What’s being done is we’re being permitted to keep our own money,” Piper said.

Laura Youmans, assistant director of public policy for the Florida Association of Counties, said that about 50 percent of homeowners in Florida and 58 percent in Manatee County would benefit from this measure. Renters, businesses and those with second homes wouldn’t.

While she did not have numbers directly related to how the savings would affect Manatee County, Youmans said on average a Floridian could save $250 a year.

She also called the measure “an effort to undercut budgetary authority.” In fiscal year 2018, 35 percent of the Manatee County budget’s revenue sources came from property taxes estimated at $218 million.

“This loss of revenue means you will have less of a balance to address your local concerns,” she said, which includes public safety funding.

Manatee County’s population has increased by 60,000 people since 2007, and will be just shy of 500,000 in 2037. More people means more services will be required, she said, adding that “governments are not great at anticipating what is going to happen” and the economic collapse in 2008 should be a reminder.

“We need to understand where Florida is economically and where our tax system is and make sure we don’t trip ourselves up just to feel good, put some money back in our pockets,” Youmans said. “But the long-term problems are very dire.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Proposal offers voters a choice: Save money or cut government services, panel says."