ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — City leaders in Port St. Lucie review the upcoming city budget as some city council members worry about lost revenue if property taxes go away.

Port St. Lucie hosted the summer budget workshop at the Port St. Lucie Community Center Thursday morning.

During the workshop, City Manager Jesus Merejo told the City Council the city would lose over $48 million in property taxes over the next two years if the item passes in November.

To prepare for the potential hit, the city isn’t just deferring projects — it’s also holding the line on hiring. Port St. Lucie says it won’t fund 184 requested positions, worth $28.3 million, including 25 new police officers and parks staff the city had already planned to add this year to keep up with growth at Torino Regional Park and the new BMX facility at Tradition Regional Park.

“Well, our costs continually rise just like everybody else. So, the only place that we can take that from is personnel. So, we’ll have to reduce the size of the place,” said Police Chief Leo Niemczyk when asked how this budget will impact the department.

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City employees also won’t get a cost-of-living raise in the coming budget. On the capital side, the $7.8 million in canceled projects includes a study for a new interchange connecting Marshall Parkway to I-95, an inclusive playground at McChesney Park, and parking improvements at Riverland Paseo Park, along with construction on a new City Hall and parking garage

Despite parks and recreation receiving an extra $1.34 million, most of that money is tied to new developments, such as the Torino Regional Park and the BMX facility at Tradition Regional Park. Parks and recreation officials told city councilors what a lack of new staff to keep these parks going will look like.

“I dare say the dirty words of deferred maintenance. But that’s the reality when you don’t have the people in the parks to maintain them at the level that we’ve been accustomed to doing,” said Brad Keen, the director of the parks and recreation department.

Not everything is being cut, though. The police department’s budget is actually going up nearly 10%, to just under $104 million, driven mostly by a 5% contractual raise for sworn officers along with new equipment, training and technology upgrades.

But the number of officers isn’t growing; staffing stays flat at just over 468 positions, meaning the department is spending more to keep the officers it already has, not to add more. City leaders have flagged public safety, police, code enforcement, and emergency management as the areas most exposed if deeper cuts are eventually needed, since they already eat up 56% of the city’s general fund.

“This is the reality of what the future is for, not just our city, but all this needs for safety if we’re not able to be competitive and keep our officers,” said Vice Mayor Jolien Caraballo.

The proposal, known as Amendment 3, is headed to Florida voters on the November 3, 2026 ballot after the Legislature passed it during a June special session. If approved, it would raise the state’s homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 starting in January 2027, and to $250,000 in January 2028, while also directing lawmakers to come up with a plan to eliminate non-school property taxes on homesteaded properties eventually.

Because it’s a constitutional amendment, it needs at least 60% approval from voters to pass. Economists have estimated the change could cut local government revenue statewide by billions of dollars a year, which is why cities and counties across Florida, including Port St. Lucie, are already building the potential loss into their budget planning.

St. Lucie County homeowners currently pay the highest property tax in the state, according to Florida tax data.

Scott Samples with the city said the council will reconvene shortly after the November 3rd election to determine next steps, whether the proposal is passed or fails.