Almost the entirety of the debate around Amendment 3 has focused on what increasing the homestead exemption to $250,000 over two years will do to the finances of local government. The pros have argued that the tax base has increased dramatically in the last 15 years, making the value of the current homestead exemption less meaningful. The cons have argued that stripping billions from the budgets of local governments will have a detrimental effect on not only our quality of life but on our most valued services. The idea that rescue squads may not have the resources to save a heart attack victim or that fire departments may not be able to extinguish a conflagration quickly is a sobering thought.
However, our concern is not with the impact of this proposed increase in the homestead exemption, but rather with the gubernatorial and legislative subterfuge that is hiding in plain sight in the ballot language, to wit:
“[This amendment] requires the Legislature to prescribe a uniform procedure for counties and municipalities, for their respective levies, to increase the homestead exemption up to full assessed value… (emphasis applied).”
Many pro-amendment soothsayers have pointed out that increasing the homestead exemption to $250,000 is a deserved boon to the working class, allowing struggling families to afford to stay in their homes through lessening their tax burden. Rich people in their multi-million-dollar mansions still will pay most of what they’re paying now, they’ve assured us, so their benefit from Amendment 3 will be quite small. Except that really is not the plan.
As one can discern from the quotation above, the legislative intent (and the governor’s, considering it was his idea all along) is to force local governments to forego non-school property tax revenue on homesteaded property completely by making those multi-million-dollar mansions off limits as well.
What would that look like? Let’s take as an example a large mansion on Siesta Key, with which many are familiar because it was prominently featured for several years in a television series on MTV. The owner of that mansion paid about $119,000 in property taxes last year. And while that seems like a whole lot of money to most residents here, it represents only a tiny fraction of the value of that mansion, which has a likely market value of approximately $20 million. But if Amendment 3 passes, the owner could look forward to eventually cutting his property tax bill by about $75,000 each year.
Most folks probably consider bumping the homestead exemption to $250,000 a fair and reasonable thing to do, given how much property values have escalated during this latest Florida land boom. But we truly believe many would take an entirely different view if they knew the intent was eventually to allow millionaires and billionaires to have their property taxes decline by almost two-thirds.
If Amendment 3 passes with this duplicitous language contained therein, then the frequently expressed fears of voters that some will perish of a medical emergency because rescue squads were dramatically curtailed or others would die in flames because fire departments did not have the capacity to save homes … well, those very likely will come to pass. The rich will not care, since they easily can pay for private ambulance service or private firefighters if the local governments can no longer provide them. It is the middle class which will pay the greater price and — all too frequently — even the ultimate price.
Amendment 3 is a craven bit of legislative legerdemain disguised as a gift to the working people of our state. But as Admiral Ackbar so famously warned, “It’s a trap!” It is the most hollow of promises from our feckless state leaders, and the ultimate sucker’s bet. Do not fall for it. Vote NO on Amendment 3!
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