Children’s Services Councils and Trusts across the state, including South Florida, are staring down potentially massive budget cuts if voters approve Amendment 3, a proposed property tax reduction that advocates warn could hollow out critical programs for scores of youth and families.
The proposed property tax measure could strip $99.8 million from children’s trusts in its first year alone, with total losses reaching $278.1 million over two fiscal years, according to a report by the Florida Policy Institute.
The fiscal blow would land heavily in South Florida:
— The Children’s Trust of Miami, serving the state’s largest pediatric population, faces estimated losses of $60.3 million by 2029.
— The Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County would lose $49.7 million over the next two years.
— The Children’s Services Council of Broward County, serving nearly 9% of Florida’s children, projects a $17 million loss in year one and $47.8 million by 2029.
"With over 90% of The Children’s Trust budget dedicated to direct services, this will impact the availability of early intervention and high-quality child care, after-school and summer learning programs, summer youth internships, school health services, parenting supports, and/or assistance for families in crisis," the Children's Trust in Miami-Dade County posts on its website. It notes property owners pay only about $7 a month to fund hundreds of community-based programs.
"If Amendment 3 passes, families could experience changes in the availability or scope of local services and programs," the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County told the Palm Beach Post in a statement. "CSCPBC is working thoughtfully and proactively to safeguard the essential services families depend on. Still, a reduction of this size could mean tough decisions for the board."
Cindy Arenberg Seltzer, Chief Executive Officer of the Broward council, told WLRN that key initiatives at risk include juvenile diversion programs — which reduced local youth arrests from 12,000 to 2,800 over 25 years — and immediate crisis response partnerships for suicidal youth. She noted these kinds of preventative efforts have saved the community over $6 billion in potential emergency and institutional costs over the last decade.
"Local dollars under local control can respond to local needs on an immediate basis," Seltzer said. “It's a savings of money [and] it's a savings to society."
If property tax collections evaporate, councils will be forced to make stark choices regarding school nurses, after-school care and trauma interventions.
Funding from the state supports some programs, but it’s often not enough and the dollars don’t reach everyone who needs it, said Arenberg Seltzer.
Other times, “the state has walked away from their responsibility,” she added.
“So we may just have to say, ‘State, do what you're supposed to do. We're not using local dollars anymore. You wanted this, so you'll have to figure out how to fund it,’” Arenberg Seltzer said.
However, “a lot of social services in Broward County have made it into the state budget only to be vetoed” by Gov. Ron DeSantis, she said.
Amendment 3 proponents' argument
From gas to rent prices, the high cost of life is straining families across the state. For those who want to see some money back in their pockets, Amendment 3 is enticing because it reduces property taxes.
According to the Florida Tax Watch, the measure could slice local property taxes by about $45.8 billion over five years.
READ MORE: Tax relief vs. government service cuts: Miami-Dade leaders clash over controversial Amendment 3
The proposed amendment — if approved by 60% of voters — increases the homestead property tax exemption for homeowners from the current $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027, and then to $250,000 in 2028. The Legislature, though, exempted the portion of the property tax bill that goes to K-12 schools from the increased exemption. Another provision would lower the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties to 5% from 10%.
Proponents of Amendment 3 argue that local governments can absorb tax cuts by belt-tightening municipal budgets.
Arenberg Seltzer, who leads the children's council in Broward, points out that state funding rarely covers the shortfall — and local social service line items are frequently vetoed at the state level.
Because the trusts — which go back more than 75 years in some counties — are built on dedicated annual property tax revenue, the reduction in local funding directly threatens the reach of these community safety nets.
Arenberg Seltzer, who has been in her role in Broward for 25 years, has seen first hand how the community is improved through these programs funded partly by taxpayers. It’s been a fulfilling run, and she knows there’s more good to get done, but “if this passes, I'm not sure what happens.”
"We won't go away because it will just reduce the funding, it won't eliminate it," Arenberg Seltzer said. "I'm confident that each place we fund makes a difference in actual people's lives — and we'll just have to decide which people don't get the help."
