Amendment 3 gets unusual spot in Pinellas tax notices

CLEARWATER — This year's Truth in Millage notice includes something besides the usual estimates of your property's value and taxes: information about a hotly debated constitutional amendment voters will decide in November.

The Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office sent the informational supplement to 396,669 property owners. The supplement includes a QR code directing them to an online guide to Amendment 3, which would substantially expand Florida's homestead exemption.

It's the first time in Mike Twitty's 10 years as property appraiser that his office has used the annual mailing to provide information about a pending constitutional amendment or ballot measure.

Twitty's office says it isn't trying to tell anyone how to vote. “We're not allowed to advocate for or against,” Twitty said during a “public education” session in St. Petersburg this week.

“We're going to present everything in a very fact-based manner and then try to peel back the layers of the onion on the amendment so that you can understand all the moving parts and make your own educated decision when you go and vote in November,” he said.

Amendment 3 was one of numerous topics covered during the hourlong session, which also included property values, homestead exemptions, Save Our Homes, TRIM notices and post-hurricane assessments.

Twitty devoted roughly 15 minutes to the ballot measure. His discussion was part of the presentation rather than prompted by questions from the audience. The only audience question heard during the session concerned property values in a flood-damaged neighborhood.

Amendment 3 requires approval from at least 60% of voters to pass. If approved Nov. 3, the first increase in the homestead exemption would take effect Jan. 1.

The measure would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to as much as $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. It also would reduce the annual assessment cap on non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%.

Twitty's office estimates that a homeowner who receives the full exemption could save about $1,200 in 2027 and $2,400 in 2028, based on the countywide average non-school tax rate and assuming tax rates and other factors don't change.

But those savings would come with a corresponding reduction in taxable value for local governments.

Twitty said the effect would vary considerably depending on the community and its percentage of homesteaded property.

Beach towns could see an 8% to 12% impact, while the county's general fund could see about a 20% reduction. In Seminole, where a higher percentage of properties are homesteaded, the impact could exceed 30%, he said.

Governments could respond by raising tax rates, creating non-ad valorem assessments or increasing fees, Twitty said. His office's online guide addresses those possibilities along with potential savings for homeowners.

It notes that Amendment 3 would not guarantee any particular funding level for police, fire, emergency medical services or other government services. It also explains that homestead exemptions don't apply to non-ad valorem assessments.

The guide also points out a provision that could allow the exemption to grow beyond $250,000.

Under the amendment, the Legislature would be directed to establish a procedure allowing counties and municipalities to increase the exemption in the future, potentially up to all remaining assessed value of a qualifying homestead.

Establishing that procedure would not require another constitutional amendment going before voters, Twitty said.

“Some people are OK with that. Some people are not,” he said. “I'm just pointing that out that that is a change.”

Why put it in the mailing?

His office said it decided to include the QR code in this year's mailing after receiving numerous inquiries from property owners about Amendment 3.

The office said it puts out a supplement every year anyway to get ahead of common questions, so tacking on the Amendment 3 material didn't cost anything extra.

The Property Appraiser's Office in the past has used TRIM notices to explain a constitutional amendment, but after — rather than before — voters had their say.

In 1995, then-Property Appraiser Jim Smith revised the notices to explain Save Our Homes, an assessment cap that voters approved three years earlier and which took effect that year. Smith had been a longtime supporter of the measure, then known as Amendment 10, and served as Pinellas chairman of the initiative that helped put it on the ballot.

The FAQs linked from the supplement were developed by the Property Appraisers' Association of Florida's legislative committee, which Twitty chairs. The association held meetings to refine the material and ensure its neutrality, according to Twitty's office, and a Pinellas-specific version was then created.

The association's general counsel, Loren Levy, and Pinellas property appraiser staff counsel Alex Luca reviewed the material. The office said in response to questions from The Pinellas Current that there are no written records of that review because the discussions occurred during working-group meetings and telephone conversations.

The office said it considered whether using a government mailing to direct taxpayers to information about a ballot measure could be perceived as advocacy.

The supplement and website carry a disclaimer stating that the Property Appraiser's Office “does not support or oppose any constitutional amendment, ballot measure, candidate, or political campaign.”

Twitty's presentation this week also illustrated how the amendment could look different, depending on who's doing the voting.

For a first-time homebuyer facing a reset in taxable value after buying a house, he said, “that additional $250,000 exemption looks pretty good.”

A longtime homeowner, however, might already have a low tax bill because of Save Our Homes.

“You may already be paying $1,000, $1,500 in taxes, and you may be concerned about what's going to happen to services within your local community around you,” Twitty said. “People are weighing these decisions out because everybody's standing in a little bit different shoes.”