One of the biggest benefits for families living in Pensacola city limits is the vast array of spring, fall break and summer camps, many of them provided for a reduced costs for low-income residents, that are put on by Pensacola Parks and Recreation.
The city’s programs go beyond school breaks, providing programming for afterschool activities, Outdoor Pursuits, sports camps and senior programs.
Parks and Recreation programming is a longtime tradition in cities across Florida, and beyond the valuable enrichment opportunities, they’ve become a critical need more many Florida families.
Yasima White is a single mother with two children who works two jobs. She relies on Jacksonville’s summer camps to keep her two girls, 6 and 12, engaged, excited and off electronic devices.
“So summer camp is childcare, and without being able to have these programs funded, I would be looking at paying at least $250 to $300 a week per child,” she said.
Jackie McCallister said if not for the locally supported summer camps in Sarasota County for her 6-year-old son she would not be able to keep her job as a hotel catering manager. She would have to find a job that would allow her to work remotely at home.
“I would literally have to switch careers,” she said. “A few weeks ago there was no camp and I had to bring him to work and it wasn’t easy.”
Welcome to the newest front in the battle over property taxes: your kid’s summer camp.
Floridians for Shared Prosperity, a political committee, says if Amendment 3 passes and raises homestead exemptions to $250,000 it will drain the budgets of municipalities and children services councils statewide that subsidize the camps.
“Thousands upon thousands of children in Florida go to a summer camp that is directly supported via property taxes,” said Holly Bullard, chair of the committee, which is using the slogan, “Save Our Services — No on 3.” “Property taxes fund and support these enriching programs for children during the summer.”
She said summer camps are just one way property taxes support children and families.
“Families every year rely on these camps and deserve to understand the impact of what Amendment 3 would mean for their pocketbook and for the lives of their children during the summer,” Bullard said.
While opponents and government leaders warn that expanding the homestead exemption to $250,000 by 2028 would strip billions of dollars from essential services, supporters of Amendment 3 say municipalities can easily absorb the cuts by trimming unnecessary bloat rather than slashing essential services.
The Republican-led Florida Legislature put the measure on the November ballot at the behest of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor, though, said he would not campaign for Amendment 3 because the Legislature had watered down his proposal to eliminate all property taxes on primary residences. The initiative is also being challenged in court for the language the Legislature used for the ballot.
DeSantis said in June that eliminating property taxes for homesteaded homes would largely give relief to the middle class. Opponents say it will be the wealthy with large estates that will see the most benefit.
“Do you care about affordability or not?” DeSantis said. “What better tool in the toolbox do we have than to do this for our homesteaded property owners?”
The campaign for U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor, didn’t address the impact of services when asked.
“Byron Donalds believes that property taxes absolutely must be cut and Florida homeowners need real relief,” said spokesman Gates McGavick. “If it fails, he will find solutions to deliver tax relief that makes Florida more affordable.”
GOP State Chair Evan Power didn’t equivocate, saying municipalities shouldn’t be in the business of running summer camps.
“The purpose of city government was to perform core services, not provide daycare to people or provide grocery stores to people. That’s what socialist nations do, and they bankrupted their people,” he said.
When asked about parents who rely on affordable summer camps, Powers said, “You know they’d save it on their tax bill and then pay it themselves.”
Many municipalities have been clear: If Amendment 3 passes, then essential services, such as parks programs, which include summer camps, would be affected. Some might face elimination, others increased fees. The state Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimates $12 billion would be stripped away from local budgets.
Using estimates from the Escambia County Property Appraiser’s Office, Pensacola would lose $7.2 million in year two, while Escambia County would lose 56.2 million.
The James Madison Institute, the conservative think tank, has said because of the increase in property values, taxes on homeowners have tripled since 2000. A “levy cap” like Amendment 3 would “constrain growth in line with economic capacity — enabling communities to fund services responsibly while avoiding unchecked tax increases.”
Andy Thomson, mayor of Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, said his five kids take advantage of some two dozen municipality-run summer camps offered in the city. One daughter is in a camp at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, a 20-acre coastal nature preserve, while his sons enjoy a fishing camp.
“They are some of the best around and very reasonably priced relative to other camps,” he said.
Thomson said the city would possibly have to consider raising prices on those camps if Amendment 3 passes.
“We are very closely watching this issue, and we do have some concerns about the restrictions contained in Amendment 3 on how tax dollars can be used,” he said. “Any parent of any camper at the city’s camps would agree that the city provides a fantastic service for the community and we would hate to see that affected.”
Amendment 3 hems in municipality spending of ad valorem revenue to public safety, schools, infrastructure, debt services, retirement benefits and general administration.
“The initial cuts will likely impact services that do not have contractual obligations, such as kids’ camps, elderly day care programs and some city maintenance,” said Juli Casale, a city commissioner for Delray Beach in Palm Beach County.
As mothers, White and McCallister expressed as much concern, if not more, for their children’s welfare if the summer camp option disappeared.
White said her eldest is in a musical theater camp where they do Broadway plays for six weeks. It cost her $150. Her youngest is at Jacksonville city camp.
“They go swimming to the city pools. They go to all the YMCA camps or Boys and Girls camp. There’s not something exhilarating or adventurous that she has done that I haven’t had to pay for,” she said. “If they were at home, they would be on their iPads.”
McCallister added, “When my son goes to camp, he comes home and he’s exhausted. They do so much with him. He’s always outside. He comes home with projects too, like pictures and different things.”
Recently, the camp went to the Museum of Science and Innovation (MOSI) in Tampa, a massive hands-on science center that features over 100 interactive activities, a butterfly garden, and the massive Saunders Planetarium.
Both moms have talked to others about Amendment 3 and have found parents simply are not informed of the potential impacts.
“People are having to steal from Peter to pay Paul,” White said. “What I worry about is that people are going to make decisions about things thinking it is going to be a cost saving when it’s really a cost shift.”
John Pacenti is the Government Impact Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
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