A week after the Florida Legislature placed a constitutional amendment aimed at reducing homestead property taxes on the statewide ballot, a nonprofit group has filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that the ballot language is “unconstitutionally biased, misleading and inaccurate.”
The action also asks the court to direct Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to redraft the language before it goes to the voters in November.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County by Save Our Voters, a not-for-profit social welfare group, and two South Florida residents. The attorney filing the lawsuit is Jamie Cole of Broward County, who successfully challenged a property tax proposal constitutional amendment that the Legislature had originally put on the ballot in 2007.
The Legislature approved a ballot measure last week that would increase the homestead exemption for non-school ad valorem taxes from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and up to $250,000 by 2028. It needs 60% support from the public in November to become state law.
The lawsuit doesn’t address the policy proposed, instead taking aim at the ballot summary language the voters will see, which is labeled, “SAVE OUR HOMES FROM EXCESSIVE PROPERTY TAXES.”
“That is not a neutral description of the amendment’s chief purpose, it is a campaign statement,” the lawsuit alleges. “Moreover, the ballot summary does not merely describe the Proposed Constitutional Amendment — it endorses it. The ballot summary expressly tells voters that the amendment ‘benefits Florida taxpayers.’
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“Whether the amendment benefits taxpayers is the central policy question voters are being asked to decide,” the suit continues. “The ballot summary then sets forth three political taglines – ‘ensuring funding for core services,’ ‘protecting small businesses’ and ‘ensuring fairness for Florida residents’ — giving reasons why voters should vote for the proposal. But the purpose of a ballot summary is to explain what an amendment does, not to advocate for its adoption.”
Similar criticisms that the ballot language was biased in favor of the amendment were made on the Senate floor last week by Democratic Leader Lori Berman of Boca Raton.
The lawsuit claims the ballot summary misleadingly suggests the measure if passed would “exempt the first $250,000 of a homestead’s value from taxation,” when the bill itself says it would exempt only the first $150,000 of value for the first year following adoption.
“The $250,000 exemption would take effect for calendar year 2028,” the lawsuit says. “No mention of this delayed implementation is mentioned in the ballot summary.”
The two plaintiffs listed in the case are Thomas F. Campenni, a former mayor and city commissioner from Stuart, and Michael W. Daley, a former city council member and mayor of Key Biscayne.
Attorney Cole was on the winning side in a similar legal challenge against a proposed constitutional amendment to reduce property taxes in 2008. He is also the attorney of record representing more than a dozen local governments in the legal challenge to SB 180, which placed limits on local land-use regulations.
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