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Tag: property tax

  • FL Supreme Court doesn’t review legislative ballot measures

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    After a contentious debate with Democrats, Florida House Republicans passed their version of a property tax overhaul that would eliminate non-school property taxes for Floridians’ primary residences. 

    As the House neared a vote on the proposed amendment Feb. 19, Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City, dismissed legislators’ concerns that the tax cut would strip local governments of money for services, saying municipalities’ budgets have increased sharply over the last several years.

    Then he turned to Florida’s ballot amendment approval process.

    “What we pass today will eventually go, hopefully, to the Supreme Court,” Overdorf said on the statehouse floor. “And they will review that language and then it goes to the voters. The voters will make that choice.”

    The tax proposal is a legislative ballot measure that will require voters to weigh in. The Florida Supreme Court doesn’t automatically review that type of proposal.

    The state Supreme Court typically reviews citizen-led initiatives before they go to voters, not ones passed by the Legislature. In this case, the court would review the proposal’s language only if anyone files a lawsuit challenging it. Given the controversial nature of the property tax proposal, experts believe it is likely to face legal challenges.

    University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett found that from 1978 to 2019 the Florida Supreme Court removed eight legislative proposals from the ballot in reviews spurred by lawsuits. In each case, the court declared the amendments or their ballot summaries confusing, misleading or incomplete.

    Overdorf told PolitiFact he was referring to the possibility of a lawsuit, saying that his use of the word “hopefully” was meant toward the measure passing the Legislature. The Senate has not taken up the measure and is working on its own property tax proposal with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who floated the possibility of a special session later in the year to get it done. 

    “I have to be conservative as I go through this process, and the measure is subject to review if somebody challenges the ballot language,” Overdorf told PolitiFact in a phone interview. “According to the statutes, anyone that disagrees with the language and files an action, which they have to do within 30 days, that would have to be reviewed by the court and it takes precedence of any other action by the court.”

    The different ways Florida handles ballot measures

    There are five ways an amendment can be placed on Florida’s election ballots: citizen-led initiative petition, legislative proposal, constitutional revision commission, taxation and budget reform commission and a constitutional convention. At least 60% of voters must approve of a measure for it to become a Florida law. 

    Florida has never had a constitutional convention, but it has utilized the four other methods over the years to put ballot measures before voters. 

    For citizen-led initiatives, “after a certain percentage of required signatures is reached, a supreme court review of the amendment is officially requested, and the court must agree that the initiative covers only one subject and that the ballot summary is not confusing or deceptive,” Jewett said. “If the court finds that it fails either of those tests, then it will not go on the ballot.”

    Florida’s Republican lawmakers have taken steps to make it harder for ballot initiative backers to get measures approved. 

    In 2020, they passed a bill raising the number of signatures initiatives need to spur review by the state’s highest court, increasing it from 10% to 25% of the total signatures required to get on the ballot. The law also raised the requirement for signatures to be collected in at least half of the state’s congressional districts, instead of one-fourth of them.

    DeSantis signed another law in 2025 that requires petition circulators to be Florida residents and U.S. citizens, prohibits felons who haven’t had their voting rights restored from circulating petitions and requires all circulators to register with the Florida Division of Elections. (Petition circulators gather signatures for ballot initiatives.) The state can now levy a $50,000 fine against an organization that allows ineligible people to handle petitions, per violation.

    The tougher restrictions can be seen in real time: DeSantis’ administration recently announced that no citizen initiatives made the November 2026 ballot. Legislative proposals, meanwhile, must pass as a joint resolution by a three-fifths vote in both the House and Senate, and are not subject to a governor’s veto. 

    Since Republicans currently have the supermajority, any measure the party wants to put on the ballot has a good chance of getting there. Once passed, barring a lawsuit, the proposals typically go straight to the ballot.

    “The legislative majority typically resents having its legislative proposals removed or revoked and believes the Florida Supreme Court should not interfere with its ability to place constitutional changes before the voters,” Jewett wrote in his book, “Politics in Florida.” “In several cases, the legislature has simply rewritten its proposal and put the issue back before the voters.” 

    For example, when the Florida Supreme Court removed a 2007 proposal to reduce property taxes and increase exemptions, the Legislature called a special session and got the rewritten proposal back on the ballot, where it passed easily.

    The court, which now has six conservative DeSantis-appointees, has not removed any legislative proposals from the ballot in 2020, 2022 or 2024.

    RELATED: Florida’s Amendment 4 on abortion is short. Does a lack of definitions mean no rules? 

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  • Most FL property tax revenue from vacation homes, businesses

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    As Florida’s Republican leaders consider overhauling the state’s property tax system, Gov. Ron DeSantis recently zeroed in on tax changes for primary homes, or homestead properties.

    During an Oct.15 event in West Palm Beach, a high school student asked DeSantis if there are alternative revenue sources that could replace property tax funding. Lawmakers have offered competing proposals, but appear to be focused on changing how primary residences are taxed.

    DeSantis said governments could spend less money, and that primary residences are not local governments’ main source of property tax revenue.

    “The vast, vast majority of property tax revenue is not from homestead Floridians’ properties. It’s second homes, investment properties, commercial properties, Airbnb, all those other things,” DeSantis said. “That’s about 68 to 70% of property tax revenue statewide.”

    His estimate is very close.

    Sixty-four percent of Florida’s property tax revenue comes from properties that are not primary residences, preliminary 2025 data shows.

    “It is reasonable to conclude that about two-thirds of the property taxes are paid by non-homesteaded properties,” said Matt Caldwell, the Lee County property appraiser and a former Republican lawmaker. He said the statistic varies based on market changes.

    The idea of changing how Florida collects property taxes makes counties and cities nervous because no one has spelled out where the lost revenue would come from. 

    “Local governments will have to offset that revenue loss, meaning Floridians could see reductions in public services — things like first responders, emergency preparedness and disaster management — new or increased local taxes or fees, or a combination of these strategies,” said Esteban Leonardo Santis, research director at the center-left Florida Policy Institute.

    PolitiFact contacted DeSantis’ office for comment but received no reply.

    How much tax revenue comes from Florida’s primary residences?

    Both the Florida Policy Institute and the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research reported in September that 36% of statewide property tax revenue comes from primary residences. Florida’s current homestead exemption is generous, and can reduce a home’s taxable value by as much as $50,000.

    The Florida Policy Institute estimated that ending property taxes for these properties would cost about $18.5 billion, which breaks down to $7.8 billion for counties, $3 billion for cities and $7.7 billion for school districts. 

    If the state fully or partially eliminates property tax on primary residences across all income levels, it could result in a cost shift, Santis said, and that could come in the form of a higher sales tax or corporate income tax. Florida renters would not benefit from the policy.

    This kind of overhaul “limits local fiscal autonomy, gives outsized benefits to owners of more expensive properties, and makes the state more susceptible to economic downturns,” he said. 

    Caldwell said part of the challenge is defining property tax. Some taxes are levied based on a property’s value, and others aren’t based on value, but both are included on tax bills. 

    He said the distinction might not matter to the average property owner who will view property tax “as everything charged to them” on their November bill.

    Since August, DeSantis and Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia have traveled the state to talk about their efforts to root out what they describe as “waste, fraud and abuse.” Floridians don’t need to pay property taxes, they say, when local governments are misusing millions.

    But local governments have pushed back on those statements, saying some spending examples were misrepresented, approved by voters or weren’t funded by property taxes. 

    Our ruling

    DeSantis said in Florida, “68 to 70% of property tax revenue” is from “second homes, investment properties, commercial properties, Airbnb,” not primary residences.

    He’s very close. Sixty-four percent of Florida’s property tax revenue comes from properties that are not primary residences, including second homes, vacation rentals and businesses.

    Ending taxes for primary residences could cost about $18.5 billion across Florida counties, cities and school districts. That might result in reducing or privatizing services, or increasing the sales or corporate tax rates.

    DeSantis’ statement is accurate but needs additional information. We rate it Mostly True.

    PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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  • DeSantis says he wants just one constitutional amendment on property taxes in 2026

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    Credit: via Shutterstock

    Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to jab at House Republicans over property taxes on Wednesday and insisted that voters should be given just one proposed constitutional amendment to overhaul the system instead of multiple proposals.

    House Speaker Daniel Perez earlier this month said that voters should decide what type of property tax cuts should be enacted and rolled out seven potential amendments that could be placed on the 2026 ballot.

    But this is a no-go with DeSantis who has suggested that Perez is doing this to undermine any effort to cut property taxes.

    “It’s got to be very clearly written and give people a chance to vote for it,” he said while speaking on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa. “What you don’t do is put five [constitutional amendments] on there…because they’re going to be written in ways that are not going to be clear – and so there’s going to create confusion on the ballot.”

    The governor has made clear for months that he wants to provide property tax relief for those with homestead properties and that can only be achieved by placing such a measure on the ballot via a constitutional amendment. The most likely way that will happen is by having the Legislature create and approve a proposal that gets three-fifths support from both the House and Senate to be placed on the November 2026 ballot. Then 60% of the public must vote for it to become law.

    This marks the second time that DeSantis has zinged House Republicans. After they  offered seven separate proposed constitutional amendments  to reduce property taxes earlier this month, DeSantis dismissed their offers as “not serious.” He doubled down on those comments on Wednesday.

    “Total half measures”

    “Just understand what they’re trying to do in the Florida House – they put out a bunch of proposals,” he said. “They’re all milquetoast. There’s not one proposal that would get people excited about. Not one. So they’re total half measures. Which is not what people are asking for. People want to be bold. So just right there’s a problem. But they say, ‘No, we’re just going to put it all out to let the people decide. We’ll put five on the ballot and let the people decide.’ First of all, the Senate’s not going to do that. But if that were to be done, that is a way to kill any type of getting property tax reform. Because different voters are going to read different things and none of them are going to end up getting 60%.”

    One big potential problem for DeSantis, however, is that he has no veto power over what the Legislature eventually draws up and places on the ballot.

    Perez responded to DeSantis’ initial criticisms of the House’s proposals last week by pointing out that the governor has not yet released his own proposal to address the issue. He added that he had personally reached out to the governor to share the House’s offers and had never heard back.

    (One Democrat, Sen. Mack Bernard from Palm Beach County, filed four proposed constitutional amendments on property taxes as well last week).

    DeSantis confirmed at the press conference that he hasn’t spoken with Perez regarding property taxes, and didn’t sound like he intended to anytime soon.

    The pair began feuding over various issues during the 2025 legislative session. When DeSantis first brought up the issue of providing property tax relief during the legislative session earlier this year, Perez countered by proposing a $5 billion plan to reduce sales taxes in Florida, which the governor derided again on Wednesday as “a tax cut for tourists and Canadians.”

    Shortly after this story was published, Speaker Perez responded to the governor’s comments.

    “The governor’s comments can only be interpreted in two ways,” Perez said in a statement sent to the Phoenix. “Either he’s being small and petty, or he has just revealed something significant today about his mysterious property tax plan. The House has proposed eliminating all non-school homestead property taxes. The Governor weirdly called that ‘milquetoast.’ That can only mean the Governor has just announced that he will be proposing to abolish all property taxes including school taxes. I look forward to seeing the Governor’s proposed budget where he makes up for the $21 billion for schools that he plans to cut.”

    DeSantis said that with the 2026 election still a year away, there was no urgency to release his own proposed amendment right now, but said that he was working “with folks” to get the language right so that it can ultimately get the support it needs to pass.

     

    The measure will require 60% approval from the voters

     

    Public opinion polls show Floridians are generally supportive of eliminating or reducing property taxes. A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey released on Tuesday of 728 likely voters showed 49% of Floridians supporting the elimination of property taxes for homeowners, with 43% against. While the survey shows a plurality of voters support the idea, it’s far from the 60% support required for passage.

    DeSantis emphasized that whatever proposed constitutional amendment on property taxes appears on the ballot it must be clear and concisely written. The governor claimed that two constitutional amendments passed by the Legislature that appeared on the 2024 ballot failed because they were poorly written: Amendment 1 to  make school board races partisan, and Amendment to repeal the state’s public campaign financing programs for statewide candidates.

    Critics say whatever is ultimately proposed regarding a significant reduction if not outright repeal of property taxes on homestead properties will result in a significant cost shift – whether in taxes, fees or inadequate services. “That’s a reality if we’re going to be clear about what this does,”  Florida Policy Institute director of research Esteban Leonardo Santis said Wednesday during an online discussion on property taxes.

    “Ultimately if we were to just eliminate property taxes – non-school property taxes for homesteads – that would cost $11 billion statewide,” Santis added. “This would be $7.8 billion for counties. It would also be $3 billion for municipalities.”

    Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

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    The lawsuit accuses the DeSantis administration of slow-walking the process to put its proposed amendment on the Florida ballot.

    They want Florida to require nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to allow residents to install video monitoring devices in rooms

    ‘[There’s] a clinical assistant professor from supposed Palestine. Why are they—is that just social justice that they’re doing?’



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    Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
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  • Report: Mass. cities, towns face ‘historic’ fiscal crisis

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    BOSTON — Massachusetts cities and towns are facing a “historic fiscal crisis” amid rising operating costs, lackluster state aid and restraints on property tax increases, according to a new report.

    The “Perfect Storm” report, released by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, found that while state government spending has increased by an average of 2.8% per year since 2010 to meet its needs, restraints on local revenue sources – including Proposition 2 1⁄2 – have held city and town spending to just 0.6% per year.


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    By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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  • State lawmakers to consider potential changes to property tax laws, including eliminating them

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    Florida state lawmakers are set to meet in Tallahassee next week to consider possible changes to property tax laws, which could include eliminating them entirely.

    One proposal being considered involves raising the homestead exemption to $500,000 for non-school taxes. Additionally, lawmakers will examine changes to caps on annual increases and measures to prevent local foreclosures on homesteaded properties.

    Governor Ron DeSantis emphasized the importance of property tax relief, stating, “The best way we can do to help give people relief, so they are able to do well and make ends meet, is the property tax.”

    Lawmakers could put a constitutional amendment on property taxes before voters in 2026. The amendment might include changes proposed by lawmakers.

    Opponents of abolishing property taxes worry about how local governments would replace the revenue needed for infrastructure, police and fire services. In counties like Orange, property taxes are the main income source.

    Upcoming discussions in Tallahassee hold the promise of shaping important changes in property tax policies, which could benefit homeowners and support local government budgets. The proposed constitutional amendment in 2026 will give voters the chance to have their say on these key issues.

    Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

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  • Noting ‘political risk,’ Florida Republican reveals plan to cut property taxes – Orlando Weekly

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    Credit: via Florida House of Representatives

    After months of demands from the Florida governor’s office to slice property taxes, a Belleview Republican announced Tuesday his three-part plan to phase them out.

    Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, from Marion County, serving his second term, revealed his “Freedom 1,2,3” proposal to reporters during a Zoom press conference. The move came months after Gov. Ron DeSantis first pressured state lawmakers to eliminate the tax.

    The demand set the stage for a tax-cut feud between DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez during the 2025 legislative session; Perez wanted to focus instead on slashing the state sales tax.

    “If we do this, no one’s gonna be able to touch us. And we will be the first state in the country to take a dramatic step toward eliminating the most hated tax in America,” Chamberlin, 51, said Tuesday, noting that property taxes statewide have risen by more than 45% since 2019.

    Chamberlin’s first point involves legislation to roll property tax rates back to where they were in 2022. He acknowledged that much of his proposal could be subject to change pending further debate but, for now, he wants to eliminate roughly $34 billion of the $43 billion levied through county school and non-school property taxes.

    This would mirror 2007’s property tax rollback under then-Speaker Marco Rubio, which forced rates down to reflect the 2006-2007 fiscal year’s levels before the voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding homestead exemptions and capping assessment increases on non-homesteaded properties. It came in direct response to the then-looming 2008 housing crisis, which saw a major market downturn ahead of a crashing stock market.

    ‘Political risk’

    Once the new rollback removes a slew of property tax revenue, Chamberlin acknowledged, something will have to be done to replace the lost money — traditionally used to fund firefighters, public schools, and other crucial services statewide. This is where “2 and 3” of “Freedom 1,2,3” come in, said Chamberlin, a former consultant and entrepreneur.

    He’s proposing a 5% transaction fee on real estate sales, which he says could generate roughly $12 billion a year; a 5% transaction fee on rideshares, hotels, and amusement parks as a “travelers’ fee” to create $3.8 billion in lost revenue; and a 3-cent sales tax going specifically to schools to spawn at least $20 billion to replace the “required local effort” of school property taxes. That money would be collected against purchases in a county and redistributed depending on how many students are in each school.

    Chamberlin said he knows this won’t be received well by everyone. Republicans have traditionally opposed raising taxes and, although DeSantis has been chief among Floridian politicos calling for a solution to property tax rates, he also vowed not to sign any tax increases — even if it’s to supplement lost income. DeSantis instead offered a more vague interim proposal involving a $1,000 rebate to homeowners.

    “There is a political risk for me or anyone else who rolls out an actual plan, because immediately, there’s going to be those who organize opposition,” Chamberlin said, noting that although many people may try to “poke holes” in his plan, he welcomes the discussion. “It’s easy to talk about doing something about property taxes without ever getting specific about doing anything about it. But I’m convinced that we must have a starting point.”

    The loud debate yet lack of action surrounding property taxes dominated the 2025 session. DeSantis and Perez, a Miami Republican, battled over which tax should be cut. Ultimately, the Legislature approved a $1.3 billion tax cut package and Perez created a committee to research the best way to lower costs for homeowners while ensuring state-funded facilities could still operate.

    Chamberlin, who’s a member of the House’s 37-member property tax committee, insisted that his plan is not affiliated with DeSantis, the property tax committee, or anyone besides himself.

    Still, he mentioned that he’d had recent conversations with the governor, former House Speaker — and GOP gubernatorial candidate — Paul Renner, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, and state Sen. Stan McClain — the former House Ways and Means chairman — on cutting property taxes.

    The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.



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    Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix
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  • Amesbury mayor proposes Prop. 2 1/2 override

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    AMESBURY – Mayor Kassandra Gove on Tuesday announced she will be asking the City Council to consider approving a Proposition 2 ½ budget override question as part of the Nov. 4 city election this month.

    The proposal for the override question states “Shall the City of Amesbury be allowed to assess an additional $6 million in real estate and personal property taxes for the purposes of funding the operating budgets of the city and of the public schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026?”


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    By Caitlin Dee | cdee@newburyportnews.com

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  • Florida GOP Chairman joins Jacksonville City Council members backing property tax cut

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    A majority of Jacksonville City Council has lined up in support of trimming the city’s property tax rate for the first time since 2022 in a shift that’s gained attention from state leaders and the head of the Republican Party of Florida.

    State GOP Chairman Evan Power joined City Council President Kevin Carrico and other council members Aug. 25 on the steps of City Hall where local Republicans held posters that said “Protect Jax. Cut taxes. Cut waste.”

    “We need to continue to push and say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Carrico said. “We want the relief. We want to give the money back to the citizens.”

    Jacksonville is among the cities that Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia have criticized for their spending levels that have risen in tandem with recent growth in the property tax base.

    Ingoglia previously praised the City Council’s Finance Committee for supporting a millage cut for property taxes. Power struck a similar note.

    “Property tax is the No. 1 issue facing Floridians, and if Jacksonville can make the tough decisions, so can every other city government across the state,” he said.

    Mayor Deegan: tax rate cut is ‘simply a political move’

    Hours after Carrico’s event, Mayor Donna Deegan told reporters her budget is about solving problems that residents care about while council members pressing for the millage cut are bowing to political pressure from state officials.

    “This is, frankly, simply a political move,” Deegan said.

    The Finance Committee’s proposed millage rate for property taxes is about 1% lower than the current rate. The owner of a $200,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay about $19 less in city taxes than if the city keeps using the same rate.

    Florida Republican Party Chairman Evan Power speaks on the steps of Jacksonville City Hall on Aug. 25, 2025 about cutting the property tax rate in Jacksonville. He joined City Council members who support the cut and local Republicans holding signs in favor of the reduction for the 2025-26 budget.

    Deegan said that equates to about $1 a day in savings for the average homeowner. She said roughly half the city’s residents are renters who wouldn’t get anything from the millage rate reduction. On the spending side, she said the Finance Committee removed millions of dollars her budget put forward for affordable housing, reducing homelessness and healthcare programs..

    She said Jacksonville has had a history of making progress on building a high quality of life for residents and then letting those gains slip away.

    “We make some momentum and some progress and then it gets pulled back because there’s always a group of people that once that progress starts, they want to pull us back,” she said. “And that’s what’s happening now.”

    Council could take early vote on tax rate at Sept. 9 meeting

    The full City Council will vote Sept. 23 on the final version of the budget in what could be a vote-a-rama on individual spending items.

    But on the question of the millage rate for property taxes, Carrico said he will ask council to vote Sept. 9 to establish the lower tax rate. Once a lower rate is approved by council, it cannot be raised at the Sept. 23 meeting.

    Finance Committee members Raul Arias, Nick Howland, Ron Salem, Rory Diamond, Joe Carlucci and Will Lahnen voted Aug. 7 for a rate cut during their budget hearings, as did Carrico when he joined the committee to cast a vote on it. The lower rate trims about $13 million from the revenue Deegan used to help balance her $2 billion budget.

    Three other council members — Terrance Freeman, Mike Gay and Chris Miller — stood with Carrico at the event on the City Hall steps. That would add up to 10 votes for the property tax cut, which is a majority of the 19-member City Council.

    So far, all the council members who have signaled support are Republicans. But Carrico said it’s a bipartisan issue based on calls from property-owners getting notices in the mail of what their tax bills could be later this year.

    “This isn’t a Republican issue,” he said. “This isn’t a Democrat issue. This is an issue for the people.”

    Arias, who is chairman of the Finance Committee, said the tax rate cut is modest but it “represents something bigger” than the numerical amount.

    “It represents our commitment to review the millage regularly and ensure that government doesn’t grow more than it needs,” he said.

    Deegan’s proposed budget for 2025-26 would keep the city’s property tax rate at about $11.32 per $1,000 of taxable property value. The Finance Committee voted Aug. 7 to lower that rate to about $11.19 per $1,000 of taxable property value.

    Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico speaks during an event on Aug. 25, 2025 about lowering the city's property tax rate.

    Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico speaks during an event on Aug. 25, 2025 about lowering the city’s property tax rate.

    The state Save Our Homes amendment caps the growth in assessed value on homestead properties to 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is less. This year, the Save Our Homes cap is 2.9%.

    Because of the increase in assessed value, most homeowners will still see a bigger tax bill from the city even with a 1% cut in the property tax rate. But the increase won’t be as much as it would be if the millage rate stays the same.

    Carrico said any money that stays in the hands of taxpayers counts as relief.

    “The budget’s not over yet, but I think it’s a good start and I think in future years we’ll continue to look at more wasteful spending and more future cuts if we can make them,” Carrico said.

    As City Council heads to its budget votes in September, Deegan plans to have six town hall meetings across the city from Sept. 2 to Sept. 18 to rally support for her budget.

    She noted the Finance Committee partially restored funding it cut from her proposed budget for Meals on Wheels, the JaxCareConnect network of community health clinics and  Healthlink Jax telehealth program after hearing from the public.

    Budget add-ons: City Council committee backs budget restrictions on abortion, DEI and illegal immigration

    Millage cuts: Jacksonville might cut property tax rate. School district, Beaches and Baldwin aren’t.

    The Finance Committee moved closer to Deegan’s budget on JaxCareConnect and Healthlink Jax after City Council member Michael Boylan convened a meeting that drew dozens of people in support of those programs.

    Boylan said programs that give alternatives to emergency room visits takes a page from council’s own Critical Quality of Life Issues study in 2023 that examined access to health care, affordable housing and homelessness.

    He said shifting people away from emergency rooms for non-emergency care ultimately makes the health care system less costly for everyone.

    “It’s more head than heart in many respects,” Boylan said. “It’s common sense. The small investment we make as a city, it benefits our taxpayers as well as saves lives.”

    This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville City Council on way to cutting property tax rate

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  • Wake County leaders approve $2.1 billion budget with increased WCPSS school funding

    Wake County leaders approve $2.1 billion budget with increased WCPSS school funding

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    The Wake County Board of Commissioners

    The Wake County Board of Commissioners

    Wake County public schools will get more money in local funding, and many homeowners can expect higher property tax bills after this year’s property revaluation.

    Wake County leaders are increasing the property tax rate in the county manager’s recommended budget to provide $58.3 million in additional local funding to the Wake County Public School System.

    But that falls short of the $63.2 million in additional funding that school leaders said they needed.

    The Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the budget unanimously Monday evening. Wake County Commissioner Vickie Adamson was excused and absent from the meeting.

    This budget debate “felt more painstaking” that previous debates in recent years, said Wake County Vice Chair Susan Evans.

    Fast budget facts

    • The $2.1 billion budget is a 10.7% increase over the current year’s budget.
    • The approved property tax rate is 51.35 cents per $100 of assessed property value, or 0.3 cents over the county manager’s proposal. That’s higher than the rate Wake County would have needed to set at 46.36 cents per $100 to maintain the same level of revenue.
    • The current rate is 65.7 cents per $100.
    • The new budget is effective July 1.

    WCPSS funding

    The Wake County Public School System will get 58.3 million in local funding, or a 9% increase, over the current budget.

    The school board’s request would fund 4% raises, institute a $17.75-per hour minimum wage for “non-certified staff” and a $20-per hour minimum wage for bus drivers.

    Several WCPSS teachers and employees rallied during the county’s budget public hearings, calling on the elected leaders to fully fund the school board’s request.

    School employees should be paid “livable, comparable wages” to those of county workers, said Christina Spears, president of the Wake chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators.

    Many placed blame on the North Carolina General Assembly for not providing enough funding for local schools, but asked local leaders to make up the difference.

    “We understand that the state has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to fully fund the public educational system instead choosing to invest in private school vouchers with little-to-no-income limit nor oversight and in charter schools with limited oversight,” said Teresa Jones, president of the Wake PTA Council. “But the Wake County Commission is uniquely positioned to ensure that all children within its borders do not suffer from the legislature’s failure to invest in them.”

    This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

    Anna Johnson covers Raleigh and Wake County for the News & Observer. She has previously covered city government, crime and business for newspapers across North Carolina and received many North Carolina Press Association awards, including first place for investigative reporting.

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    Anna Johnson

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