Amendment 3 Threatens Florida’s Communities, Water, and Wildlife

By Kristen Kosik

Drastically lowering property taxes will have a catastrophic impact on Florida’s water quality, available wildlife habitat, and quality of life in general. The Amendment 3 proposal will significantly reduce the budgets of both cities and counties while limiting where they can spend the money they do have. Such strains will make it difficult for them to serve communities and nearly impossible to protect things like parks, stormwater infrastructure, and more. Wildlife habitat in parks is critical for birds, panthers, and more – many of these parks are managed and restored at the local level.

Development proposals require county and city staff to review projects – planners, engineers, environmental specialists, and more. Cuts to municipal budgets will lead to cuts in these departments – reviewing rapidly expanding proposals will become impossible. Moreover, water management district budgets will shrink, further shrinking their ability to safeguard water supplies and water quality. Algal blooms could become an every year occurrence, while restoration will become an impossibility.

Florida is facing ever greater threats to our economy, quality of life, future resilience, and environment. Now is not the time to hamstring our ability to meet these challenges.

Vote No on Amendment 3 this November.