Judge Rejects Florida Property Tax Amendment Wording

Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa. Witness an MMA legend's final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defense her PFL world title, one last time. Unforgettable end to an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfell. info slash Tampa. Bite into a stacked sandwich made with hero bread. And the only thing you'll think is delicious. You won't think it has up to 19 grams protein, 11 to 32 grams of fiber, or just 0 to 5 grams net carbs. But it does. Hero Bread. No compromises, just loaves, buns, tortillas, bagels, and noodles, pack with flavor. Right now, get 10% off at hero.co with code iHeart. That's hr.0.co, code iHeart. All figures per serving of Hero Bread, see nutrition facts on hero.co. Vital doesn't always mean visible. Across America, advanced technology is working behind the scenes, strengthening our nation. It protects our war fighters, delivers mission-ready intelligence, advances life-saving healthcare, and defends the critical infrastructure that keeps our country moving. At GDIT, we power the systems that help America operate, connect, and stay secure. Every hour, every mission, every day. GDIT, behind America's invisible advantage. The Ryan Gorman Show podcast, presented by Farah and Farah, accident attorneys, Tampa. Leon County Circuit Judge David Frank ordered Florida to rewrite the ballot title and summary for Amendment 3, the property tax amendment, finding the current language, quote, clearly and conclusively. Defective. The property tax amendment's going to remain on the November ballot, but the Secretary of State can't use the legislature's wording. So here's the problem. The title is save our homes from excessive property taxes. That was deemed unfair and, quote, more akin to a political slogan. Why? Well, the word excessive. Look, I think most of us can agree. Property taxes are a bit excessive here in Florida. But you've got to keep a leading word like that out of the actual title for an amendment on the ballot. Another problem was that the amendment says that it, quote, exempts the first $250,000 of a homestead's value from taxation. But it doesn't note that the homestead exemption would actually be $150,000 in 2027 and then would get to $250,000 in 2028. So you could argue a little misleading. Attorney General James Uthmeier has 10 days to draft neutral replacement language that describes the amendment without promoting it.

But in addressing those next steps, John Whitmire made his position on the issue known. I want to give people property tax relief. I would like to see people find that relief. A lot of people are struggling. They're hurting. I'm going to be voting for the amendment. Now, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, he had a different take, saying state lawmakers altered the original proposal from Ron DeSantis, then put it on the ballot without a proper financial analysis. They have no idea. what the devastation of Amendment 3 in its current form will be to cities and counties. And here's more from the sheriff. We can have meaningful tax savings for the people of the state of Florida. But this instrument is not the instrument to do that. You vote no on 3 in November. And then you tell your Florida legislature to address this appropriately in session. So I think that that really is where this debate has shifted to. It's not so much should there be a property tax cut here in Florida. It's how do you go about enacting a property tax cut? And I think the concern that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is expressing, it's one that you're hearing, especially from a lot of rural counties, smaller cities. Most of the revenue they get is from property tax revenue. And you put these exemptions in place and there's going to be just a massive reduction and they don't have other revenue sources coming in like bigger counties, Miami-Dade, Pinellas County with the tourism taxes and things like that. That could lead to some big decisions and potential cuts when it comes to public safety. That's the argument. Now, the governor wanted this trust fund put in place so the state legislature could essentially dole out money to those. counties and cities that experienced a situation like that. The legislature didn't put that in the amendment because there was an argument like should cities and counties have to go to Tallahassee and argue for why they need more funding? Then you're taking local control out of the equation and you're putting it all on state lawmakers in Tallahassee. So it's an imperfect amendment and the question really is. Do these arguments that you're hearing like from Paul County Sheriff Grady Judd change your opinion on whether or not you will be for or against the amendment vote for or against it in November? What else has happened this morning, Natalie? Well, turning to a development regarding the property tax measure that's heading to the ballot here. Judge in Leon County, he's ruled against the state legislature's chosen wording for Amendment 3, stating that the title and summary are clearly and conclusively defective. criticized the original ballot title, which said, save our homes from excessive property taxes, finding that it was intended to evoke an emotional response, obviously, and serve as a political message rather than a neutral explanation of what the bill was all about. So those who oppose the amendment have supported the decision, raising concerns about the potential impact.

on local government revenue and services. The amendment itself remains on the ballot right now, but Attorney General James Uthmeier saying, The Office of Attorney General is called on to rewrite the ballot language to be consistent with the law. We're giving it a hard look and we'll have updates soon. So if a rewrite is, in fact, a go, ballots have to be printed by months end in order to be vote ready for November. And for some people, I know even around here in the studio, which goes to show that not everybody knows as much as we do because this is something that we do for a living. The question was, does this impact early voting? And no, the judge's ruling does not impact the current early voting that's underway because the ongoing early voting period, which is from August 18th's primary election, local state and congressional primary contest. Amendment 3 is a constitutional measure that's scheduled exclusively for the general election ballot come November 3rd. And you can see this coming from a mile away. I said when the title and summary were released that it was a problem and that it was going to end up in court and they were probably going to have to redo it. I mean, look, you could believe that property taxes are excessive. A lot of people in the state do. But you can't put that in the title for an amendment. I mean, something simple like, you know, reducing property taxes in Florida. I mean... that's more in line with what you're supposed to do as opposed to save our homes on excessive property taxes. Like you knew that was going to get shot down in court. And then there was also a part of the summary where it talks about exempting the first $250,000 of a homestead's value from taxation. But it doesn't mention that initially it would be $150,000 exemption and then it would go to $250,000. So they found that to be a bit. misleading so a little work to do but i'm sure they'll do it and it'll be on the ballot in november and we'll see if it crosses that 60% threshold make the ryan goorman show podcast a preset on i hard radio presented by vera and vera accident attorneys tampa Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa. Witness an MMA legend's final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defense her PFL world title, one last time. Unforgettable end to an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfell. info slash Tampa. Vital doesn't always mean visible. Across America, advanced technology is working behind the scenes, strengthening our nation. It protects our war fighters, delivers mission-ready intelligence, advances life-saving healthcare, and defends the critical infrastructure that keeps our country moving. At GDIT, we power the systems that help America operate, connect, and stay secure. Every hour, every mission, every day. GDIT, behind America's invisible advantage.

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