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Indian River County leaders warn property tax amendment could cost county $50M

WPTV was inside the Heritage Center in Vero Beach Friday, where Indian River County leaders discussed the potential reduction in revenue and took aim at Tallahassee

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'They've declared war on local government,' said Laura Moss, vice chair of the Indian River County Commission.

By: Tyler Hatfield

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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — Treasure Coast leaders are navigating the property tax amendment that voters will see on the ballot this November.

WPTV was inside the Heritage Center in Vero Beach, where Indian River County leaders discussed the potential reduction in revenue and took aim at Tallahassee.

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"They've declared war on local government,” said Laura Moss, vice chair of the Indian River County Commission.

"It is an unsound, unplanned piece of public policy,” said Lance Lunceford, president of the Indian River County Tax Payers Association.

On Friday morning, Moss invited neighbors and community leaders to discuss the new property tax amendment that will be on the ballot this November, raising the homestead exemption in 2027 to $150,000 and $250,000 in 2028.

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"The state is going to dictate to the local governments how we fund whatever it is we fund. Every county is different,” said Moss. “We fund what the community wants."

According to the Tax Payers Association, the county has budget of around $597 million, and predicts in 2028, it could lose around $50 million in funding.

"That's a huge portion of our budget. That may not be a lot of money to Orlando or to Miami, but that's a lot of money here in Indian River County,” said Lunceford. "There is no way to fill a hole that size without eating into our ability to provide law enforcement and first responder services."

Christen Brewer, president of Indian River Firefighters, said fire rescue could lose around $15 to $20 million of their $70 million budget.

"About 79.1% of our funding does come from ad valorem taxes,” said Brewer. “There's three projected stations that may or may not happen if we have the shortfall in the budget."

Lunceford said the amendment is less of a tax cut, and more of a tax shift.

"We're going to see the shift onto the cost of services for the government to provide things like impact fees, things like utility fees,” said Lunceford.

Lunceford said it could mean possibly raising taxes on existing tax bases, like non-homesteaded and commercial properties to make up for lost revenue.

“When you increase taxes on businesses, you increase taxes on everybody,” said Lunceford.

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