November 2026 Elections

[Charles Hunter]

Can the cuts start in Diamond's district?

[Aristocles]

I have a question for Lakelander, or anyone else who knows about this subject: what do you think about special taxing districts as a way around Amendment 3's limitations for local governments to (I guess it would have to be indirectly) raise funds for desired projects like parks, roads, utilities, etc.? I would think a bunch of people who want something can vote to create a taxing district to raise funds for it. I'm not an expert though. I would raise Reedy Creek Improvement District as an example but that may be emotionally charged, lots of people hate Reedy Creek. But I think the idea's still sound. Anyone?

[Aristocles]

I think I found my answer. The districts are under the same rules as governments. So what will replace tax revenue is fees. Fees will be charged for people who want to build or use something new. Fees aren't limited by Amendment 3, unlike taxes. Get ready for the fees.

[Charles Hunter]

I saw this on Next Door, and am wondering about the accuracy of the assumptions.

The original post

AMENDMENT 3: MY OWN HOME AS AN EXAMPLE 🏡

I've owned my Jacksonville home since 2015.

Here's what the numbers look like:

- Estimated current market value (realtor): $325,000
- 2026 property-tax assessed value: $189,118
- Difference: $135,882

Under Amendment 3, my estimated annual property-tax savings would be:

- 2027: $1,103
- 2028: $1,541
- 2028 after a hypothetical additional $300 annual fee: $1,241

There was discussion where the OP said they assumed a $300 fee for various services.

This is one response

Something no one is talking about is the potential for the taxable value of your property to be reset to the market value before the new exemptions take effect. This is just speculation, and the Legislature will have to set the rules for County Property Appraisers on what is "just value" for purposes of this new law.
Note this language in the Referendum that just passed,
"(d) All persons entitled to a homestead exemption under Section 6 of this Article shall have their homestead assessed at just value as of January 1 of the year following the effective date of this amendment. This assessment shall change only as provided in this subsection. "
The "just value" is another term for "fair market value." In the example above, the just value, or taxable value before homestead exemption would jump from $189,113 to $325,000. Raising the taxable value in 2027 from $39,118 to $175,000, and in 2027 from zero to $75,000.

Do the numbers in the original post look reasonable?
Is the scenario in the response post reasonable?

[jaxlongtimer]

Passage of Amendment 3 consequences will include, but not be limited to the following, in no particular order:

- Fees, fees and more fees.  For everything from First Responder services (police, fire, rescue) to park admissions to increased parking meter fees, impact fees, permit fees for everything from construction to event staging, ticket fees, tolls on City streets, library fees, increased garbage and stormwater fees, fees for yard waste pickups, increased rental charges for City facilities and venues, increased fees on utilities such as water, electric and telephone/internet and so on.  Expect to be nickeled and dimed to death.

- Elimination of all those things that enhance and enrich our City's culture such as pubic art and performances, cultural organizations, etc.

- Significant cutbacks to nonprofits that use "free" volunteers to offer social, senior citizen, and youth services and programming that lift our community and make it compassionate.

- Less JSO officers per capita to maintain order in our City.

- Longer response times when you call for rescue or fire department services.

- Less dollars for activities that drive economic development, whether infrastructure improvement/expansion, incentives, recruitment efforts, etc.

- More potholes and deficient streets, sidewalks, bike paths, etc.

- Worse traffic due to less ability to expand, improve or build new roadways and poor maintenance/adjustments to traffic signals.

- Less savings than supporters advertised due to increased values of homes due to buyers taking their tax savings and bidding up prices with those dollars resulting in giving back on the top end what they gained on the bottom end.

- Higher prices for first time home buyers due to the above.

- Rents going up as businesses and landlords are forced to absorb some of the short fall from homesteaded residences.

- Local governance being subject to greater control by Tallahassee due to even more reliance on State funding vs. local funding.

- Communities being less attractive to new businesses and newcomers due to government, already running on the cheap vs. the rest of the nation, running even cheaper now.

- To the extent possible, increased millage rates (certainly, no further reductions) and increased sales taxes.

- More struggles to attract and recruit providers of City services such as police officers, firemen, EMT's, City workers and administrators capable of providing best in class services, etc. due to lower wages and benefits.

- Diminishment of public health services resulting in the spread of more physical and mental illnesses creating a drag on our City.

I am not saying all government expenses or services are perfect, but neither are they in the private sector.  Just look at "customer service" from your 800# call centers of your favorite service provider or retailer.  Anyone working in the private sector could easily identify inefficiencies and waste at their employers too.  It's just not under the magnifying glass of public entities. Looking for perfection is unrealistic.

The shame is DeSantis spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money a few months of Alligator Alcatraz, legal fees for over-the-top and clearly illegal or unconstitutional initiatives/actions, sending Florida officers to the Texas border, overpaying cronies to be university presidents that promote culture wars, diverting dollars from environmental land purchases and education to his personal projects, diverting $10 million from the HOPE fund to a political PAC, promoting pork barrel projects for friends, handing out largesse to corporate supporters, etc.  This waste pales in comparison to anything at the local level yet the State puts no restraints on its own revenue streams.

Look for a new constitutional amendment in the future backpedaling on what just got passed when the populace sees the consequences.

[Charles Hunter]

I do expect increased fees, however, lame-duck DeSantis wants to limit what local governments can do to replace revenue lost to Amendment 3.

This excellent article discusses the special session DuhSantis wants to call with the lame-duck Legislature, to set rules for implementing Amendment 3.

Having a special session before January keeps the many Democrats who flipped seats out of the discussion.

https://www.thefloridapress.com/news/amendment-3-on-floridas-ballot-what-the-property-tax-overhaul-would-do-and-which

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he will bring the Florida Legislature back to Tallahassee for a special session to put Amendment 3 into practice, one day after voters approved the property tax overhaul with about 62% of the vote. Speaking at a Nov. 4 news conference at the Capitol, DeSantis said lawmakers should finish the implementing work by Jan. 1, when the amendment takes effect, and called its passage "the beginning of our property tax elimination efforts in the state of Florida."

The governor wants the session to do more than set out the mechanics. He asked for safeguards that would keep cities and counties from replacing lost property tax money with new fees, a proposal he calls a "Taxpayer Bill of Rights," and a pool of state grant money to help local governments cover core needs during the transition. No date has been announced, and the incoming leaders of the House and Senate have signaled they are in less of a hurry.

...

The governor can call lawmakers back, but the incoming presiding officers will shape what happens once they arrive. Before the election, Senate President-Designate Jim Boyd said on the "Between the Lines with Dara Kam" program that he personally believed the work "can wait until we reconvene in January," and described much of the amendment as self-executing, according to the Florida Phoenix. House Speaker-Designate Sam Garrison said Amendment 3 would dominate the coming session and could not simply be rolled out in three days. "I'd rather be right than be quick," he said.

Lawmakers are already due in Tallahassee the week of Nov. 30 for the largely ceremonial organizational session that follows each election. Neither chamber responded to the Phoenix's requests for comment on Wednesday.

Former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, who leads the nonpartisan Florida Policy Project and opposed the amendment, said he saw no reason for a special session and suggested an implementing bill could be the first bill of the 2027 regular session. He also questioned how the state could block local governments from shifting to non-ad valorem assessments or other fees. "None of this is going to go smoothly," he told the Phoenix.

There are also new requirements on how counties can adopt millage rates above the roll-back rate (the rate that produces the same tax revenue). This restriction would take place even if Amendment 3 failed. From the same article

Amendment 3 is not the only change local budget writers face. During the same special session that put the amendment on the ballot, lawmakers passed SB 4-F, which DeSantis signed earlier this year and which took effect immediately, according to News 6 in Orlando. It does not change the constitution, but it changes how local governments calculate the highest tax rate they can adopt with a simple majority vote.

The law removes the automatic add-on, tied to growth in Florida's per capita income, that had been folded into the rolled-back rate. Under SB 4-F, a rate up to 110% of the rolled-back rate requires a two-thirds vote of the governing board. A rate above that requires a unanimous vote, a three-fourths vote on larger boards, or approval by voters in a referendum. State officials expect the change to lower base millage rates in many places.

It appears DeSatan has adopted Grover Norquist's philosophy, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."