With the prospect of the passage of Amendment 3 looming over proceedings, the St. Lucie County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to move a vote extending the county’s half-cent sales tax by another 10 years to November.
The original half-cent tax is scheduled to phase out by the 2028-29 fiscal year since it was passed by voters in 2018, county records show.
Its continuation, should it pass by a 60 percent margin set by Florida law, would go toward further road and stormwater improvements, according to County Administrator George Landry. (The Aug. 4 public meeting was his last before he stepped down).
The vote would have remained in 2028, had it not been for a new state amendment roiling local municipalities.
The board moved forward on shaky footing over what language their own tax legislation communicates to voters, now with talk of state Amendment 3.
Ballot Amendment 3 proposes greater homeowner tax exemptions under the Homestead Act, state documents say. It adds, on paper, that applicable homeowners could receive exemptions between $150,000 and $250,000 of their home value along with reduced, perhaps nullified, income tax caps.
If Amendment 3 were to pass, St. Lucie would hemorrhage some of the most money per capita in Florida, according to the Florida Association of Counties. Projected losses range from $66.7 million to $112.5 million in its first two years. The state would also lose a cumulative $5.05 billion altogether.
Concerns with Amendment 3’s language beset commissioners. They felt it could stymie voters with the half-cent tax. On the state level, a Tallahassee court struck down its use of the title “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes” Aug. 3; it can remain on the ballot provided it uses different wording.
Commissioners Erin Lowry and James Clasby dissented about the half-cent tax ballot’s placement at the past two meetings. The vote deadlocked 2-2 on July 21 due to the absence of Commissioner Larry Leet.
The same issues pervaded the board’s comments before the final vote. “They’re foaming at the mouth about this,” Clasby said of Amendment 3 stirring voter sentiment.
“I’m not interested in running it twice if it fails once,” added Clasby. He chided the tax as another measure that would “confuse” and dissuade voters. “Everybody says, ‘yeah, I don’t care what it’s going to fund, I’m going to vote against it because I want to cut taxes.’”
“I want them to make sure that you guys never wavered on that,” said Landry, regarding the time between meetings when commissioners met to clarify the half-cent tax’s language. “It was more of a timing issue.”
Leet agreed with Clasby on the language of the referendum, despite his absence from the previous meeting. But Leet voted to move it to 2026 as possible “losses” loomed for St. Lucie were Amendment 3 to pass, he said. “I am on the side of running it twice.”
Added Leet: “I don’t think it’s going to pass the first time because of what Commissioner Clasby said, but let’s try it.”
Language, Landry said, would remain key in the half-cent tax’s passage. “Yes; you get two bites at the apple, but you’d have to change how we message it.”
In case the half-cent tax died at the 2026 ballot, it would return for its originally intended 2028 vote, though under new language. “It would have to be a new tax,” said County Attorney Katherine Barbieri. “If we go forward in 2028, then, I’d assume, the effective date would be December 2028 or January 2029.”
“I think that two chances are better than one,” said Commissioner Cathy Townsend. “I feel that if we put it out there for ’26, if it doesn’t pass, we have another opportunity.”
Commission Chair Jamie Fowler shared her own uncertainty over the half-cent vote. “For every person that says they’re voting for Amendment 3, I have people that say they’re not,” she said. “I’m not a gambler (and) I don’t have great luck.”