Firefighters and Sheriffs Warn Amendment 3 Could Slow Response Times; DeSantis Says Floridians Should Keep Their Money
On the eve of the vote, Florida's public safety officials are making their closing argument against the homestead exemption expansion - longer response times, merged departments, thinner mutual aid. The governor's closing argument is the opposite: it is your money.
Amendment 3 has been a fight about tax bills for a year. On the eve of Tuesday's vote, it became a fight about fire trucks. Public safety officials from several Florida counties warned Monday that residents should expect longer response times, drops in services and the consolidation of small police and fire departments across the state if voters pass the measure, the News Service of Florida reported. The amendment would increase the $50,000 homestead property tax exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028, and it needs 60 percent support to become law.
The warning carries a local voice. Nick Gradia, an Escambia County firefighter and a leader with the Florida Professional Firefighters trade group, pointed to the mutual aid that moved across county lines after Hurricane Isaias struck the Panhandle in early October, when Escambia County helped neighboring Santa Rosa County - a county, he noted, with several small independent fire districts that did not have the resources to handle the storm response on their own. 'If everybody has to tighten their belts, what gets cut?' Gradia said. 'Now, do we lose the ability for these larger teams to come in and assist? And if that goes away and the system that's barely in place locally can't keep up with its own demand, what happens?' Groups of firefighters, sheriffs, police officers and emergency medical technicians have joined local government officials in opposing the amendment, arguing the cut is too drastic for rural counties to absorb without cutting essential services.
The other side's closing argument is shorter, and it is the governor's. Amendment 3 was developed by Gov. Ron DeSantis's office, and he has toured the state for more than a year arguing that homestead owners need tax relief; the Republican Party of Florida and the Florida Realtors support the measure alongside him. 'Our people need and deserve to have more of their money stay in their pockets instead of sending more of it to local government!' DeSantis said in a post on X. Escambia voters have already seen the county's own arithmetic - a projected $94 million revenue exposure worked through in this station's earlier coverage. Tuesday, both arguments go to the same jury: polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Amendment 3 becomes law only if six in ten voters say yes.
