Seminole County holds back grants to 24 nonprofits until Florida votes on Amendment 3
A Sept. 17 letter told agencies their funding recommendations would wait until after the Nov. 3 vote. County staff estimate the property tax measure would cost about $119 million a year, and the county's only homeless shelter says county money is about 20 percent of its budget.
Sanford. Seminole County has put off its decisions on grants to nonprofits until Florida voters decide Amendment 3 on Nov. 3, a property tax measure that county staff say would take about a fifth of the revenue in the county's property tax funds.
In a letter dated Sept. 17, the county told agencies that funding recommendations, which usually go to the Board of County Commissioners at the start of the fiscal year, would wait until after the election, Spectrum News 13 reported on Oct. 15. The county told the station that 24 agencies received the letter. No final decisions have been made.
The Herald reported on Oct. 10 that nonprofits in Sarasota and Manatee counties were planning for cuts if the amendment passes. Seminole has gone further and is holding its awards until the result is known.
What the county expects to lose
The amendment would raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 and lower the annual cap on assessment increases for other property from 10 percent to 5 percent, according to its ballot summary.
At an Aug. 25 work session, County Manager Darren Gray told commissioners that the three county funds supported by property taxes take in about $562 million and would lose about $119 million a year once the amendment is fully in place, the minutes show. Staff slides put the loss at $70 million in the 2027-28 budget year.
The Community Services slides list $842,000 in Community Service Assistance grants a year, to Meals on Wheels, The Sharing Center, the Boys & Girls Club, KidsHouse, the Early Learning Coalition, Rescue Outreach Mission, SafeHouse of Seminole, Recovery House and Boys Town. Cutting them, the slides say, would put almost 500 homeless people in shelters, including 120 children, back on the streets.
A shelter's daytime services
Chris Ham, president and chief executive of Rescue Outreach Mission, told Spectrum News 13 it is the only homeless shelter in the county and receives about $250,000 from the county, about 20 percent of its budget. He said it averaged about 70 guests a night when he arrived almost five years ago and now has 110 or more. If the county money is cut, he said, the shelter may have to send guests out each morning instead of serving them during the day.
Chris Patton, the county's communications director, told the station that if the amendment passes, commissioners will have to consider cutting funding for some organizations.
“So, management thought it was important that we don't lock ourselves into any type of financial decisions before we find out what the outcome of that might be.”
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