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Property Tax Amendment: Real Relief or Ruse?
By J.G. Hayes
Florida voters will consider a constitutional amendment on Nov. 3 that would significantly increase the homestead exemption for homeowners. The change would not affect property taxes that fund public schools.

If approved by at least 60 percent of voters, the amendment would offer substantial tax reductions for some homeowners, but it also would create significant budget challenges for local governments. To help us make sense of what Amendment 3 proposes, our program included moderator Steve Mort, host of the “Talking Central Florida” podcast; panelists Sadaf Knight, CEO of Florida Policy Institute; Amy Mercado, Orange County Property Tax Appraiser, and Jason Garcia, investigative reporter, newsletter author and podcaster.

While the amendment appears to have widespread support, polling shows that support drops sharply when voters learn what impact it would have on local services, including emergency services and education. Adding another wrinkle, a Florida court recently ordered the state attorney general to
rewrite the ballot summary and title to remove partisan language. 

Jason Garcia discussed the enlargement of homestead exemption and the lowering of the assessment cap. Statewide this could result in an $8 billion shortfall right out of the gate that could balloon to $12 billion within four years. The parties who hastily drafted the bill cannot answer questions about who would be responsible for future adjustments to the exemption. 

Sadaf Knight touched on the five-year residency requirement for the new homestead exemption and the disparate impact that would have, creating a two-tier system of renters and owners. The five-year requirement will disproportionately affect new homeowners, for example. There also is the issue of shifting taxation authority from local governments to the state Legislature.

Property Appraiser Amy Mercado’s office has created an informational sheet about the amendment, with facts and figures https://www.ocfl.net/OpenGovernment/PropertyTaxAmendment3.aspx: She discussed the reaction from various municipalities and the uncertainty they are dealing with —rendering budgeting impossible.

Garcia said most municipalities would see about a 25 percent decrease in revenues. Florida sheriffs, police and firefighters have spoken out against the amendment and pointed out that the language of the amendment itself is misleading because it promises not to cut local services when it
clearly does. Garcia discussed the history of the amendment and how the governor shepherded its passage. 

The panelists discussed the specific impact on school funding — while the amendment ostensibly carves out school funding, schools will unavoidably be one of the hardest hit services. Another practical argument against the amendment is the shifting tax burden from property owners to all consumers, including renters. 

While it’s reasonable to discuss municipal budgetary cuts, this is clearly a heavy-handed approach with potentially devastating results. Procedurally, the state is still charged with rewriting the amendment before voters have the opportunity to decide on Nov. 3, and the League encourages everyone (as always) to inform themselves before voting.

Steve Mort, host of “Talking Central Florida”

 

Journalist Steve Mort has been based in Orlando for about 20 years. He’s the host of the podcast Talking Central Florida from the News Collaborative of Central Florida. The show airs Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Central Florida Public Media and is also available on major podcast platforms and YouTube.

 

In 2019, he joined WUCF, Central Florida’s PBS station, as executive producer of “NewsNight.” He began hosting the show in 2020 and continued until its cancellation last year.

 

Steve has traveled nationally and internationally on assignment as a videographer and producer for outlets including the “PBS NewsHour,” and spent two years away from Central Florida reporting for Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver.

 

Before moving to Orlando in 2005, Steve covered Washington and the United Nations for a variety of international news outlets.

 

He began his career in the United Kingdom, where he worked as a radio journalist for the BBC, ITN and other broadcasters.

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Sadaf Knight, CEO, Florida Policy Institute

 

Sadaf Knight serves as chief executive officer of Florida Policy Institute (FPI), leading the organization’s efforts to achieve broadly shared prosperity for all Floridians. She has more than 15 years of experience in public policy research, advocacy, and nonprofit management. Her areas of expertise include revenue, economic development and community development policy. 

 

Prior to joining FPI in 2018, she was vice president of policy and research at Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF), a community development financial institution based in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

 

Knight also served as a policy analyst and community leadership fellow at MassBudget, focusing on economic development and revenue policy, and as a program manager at New York Jobs with Justice (now called Align NY), where she led advocacy efforts around economic development reform. 

 

Sadaf holds certificates in nonprofit management and community development finance. She received a Bachelor of Science in conservation and resource studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University.

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Amy Mercado, Orange County Property Appraiser 

 

Amy Mercado was elected as Orange County Property Appraiser in November 2020. She is an effective, trustworthy, results-oriented business leader with vast experience including operations, budget management, leading teams and public policy.

 

In 2016, she was elected as a State Representative for Florida House District 48 and was subsequently re-elected in 2018, serving on a wide array of committees including as the ranking member on the important Ways & Means Committee.

 

Mercado earned her Executive MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University and bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in management from American Intercontinental University.

 

Mercado is of Puerto Rican descent and was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. She has called Orange County home since 1996.

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Jason Garcia, Investigative Reporter, Newsletter Author and Podcaster

 

Jason Garcia is one of Florida’s leading investigative journalists and the publisher of "Seeking Rents" an independent newsletter and podcast about state politics that is followed closely by elected officials, government officials, journalists and activists from Miami to Tallahassee. 

 

Garcia’s reporting explores the ways in which big businesses and other special interests are influencing public policy in the nation’s third-largest state.  

 

“Rent-seeking" is a term in economics that describes when a corporation uses its political influence to turn tax laws and public policy in its favor.

 

He previously worked for the Orlando Sentinel, where he wrote an award-winning series on corporate-tax avoidance and led a yearlong investigation into a “ghost candidate” election scandal that exposed the roles of consultants for Florida Power & Light, Florida Crystals and Mosaic in political schemes around the state. 

 

Prior to that, he was an associate editor for Florida Trend, covering state politics and business for the business-news publication.

 

Garcia is originally from Guelph, Ontario. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Stay educated about this topic. Visit the informational sheet https://www.ocfl.net/OpenGovernment/PropertyTaxAmendment3.aspx from the Property Appraiser's office.

Learn about the candidate opinions concerning this proposed amendment. Visit www.vote411.org