Parks, Water To Take Hit If HX Boost Passes

The proposed increase in Homestead Exemption that the Florida Legislature put on the 2018 ballot in the latest effort to give the finger to local government is bad news for parks and water management funding, according to a revenue estimate prepared by Polk County Property Appraiser Marsha Faux.

Based on May 1, 2017 taxable property values—the revenue hit would likely be higher two years from now if the measure passes—the county parks MSTU would take a $400,930 a year hit, stormwater project funding would drop by $71,352 a year and local revenue going to the water management districts would decline by $672,050.

The cumulative impact, of course, amounts to millions of dollars at a time when population demand for water, parks and clean lakes will increase and funding deficits loom.

It will an interesting debate as we head into next year over whether the long view of the short view will govern.

 

Posted in Group Conservation Issues.