{"id":288349,"date":"2026-05-29T01:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T01:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/288349\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T01:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T01:31:24","slug":"florida-property-tax-overhaul-could-dismantle-childrens-safety-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/288349\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida property tax overhaul could dismantle children\u2019s safety net"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voter-approved nonprofit children\u2019s services organizations around Florida that provide essential services to children and families \u2014 after-school care, sexual abuse treatment, special needs education and more \u2014 are in the crosshairs of Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 proposal to eliminate property taxes.<\/p>\n

More than 11 of these councils, trusts and boards in Florida rely on ad valorem property taxes. Removing that funding would devastate the safety net for children and families \u2014 and potentially wipe out local nonprofits that rely on the councils and trusts to provide vital services, said Cindy Arenberg Seltzer, the president and CEO of Children\u2019s Services Council of Broward County.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact on some of these non-profits would not be \u2018Oh, my God, we lost some dollars and this program goes away.\u2019 It could actually put a lot of these nonprofit organizations out of business,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sean Boyle, CEO of the Children\u2019s Services Council of St. Lucie County, said his organization\u2019s revenue from property taxes is just over $15.3 million, which funds 52 programs preventing child abuse and substance consumption while keeping babies healthy and kids in school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are closely monitoring the conversation,\u201d Boyle said. \u201cAny significant action regarding property tax policy could impact the programs and resources that children and families in our community depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Martin County, the Children\u2019s Services Council is entirely funded with property taxes, said Laura Haase, the agency\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny decision that reduces property taxes has the potential to impact the programs that we fund,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"About<\/p>\n

About 25 people turned out Sept. 8, 2025, for a hearing on the proposed tax rate and budget of the Children’s Services Council of Martin County, located in Stuart, Florida.<\/p>\n

(KEITH BURBANK\/TCPALM)<\/p>\n

Healthy Children programs and Early Learning and Development initiatives including accessible pediatric services, as well as food banks, domestic violence prevention programs, the Boys and Girls Club and the Hope Center of Autism would be some of the programs affected.<\/p>\n

Property tax reform remains in limbo with special session expected<\/p>\n

The Florida House during the regular session passed a bill to eliminate all non-school ad valorem taxes for homestead properties, but the Senate didn\u2019t take up the measure. DeSantis is expected to call a special session this summer to put a proposal on November\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour home shouldn\u2019t be used as an ATM for local government,\u201d Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference earlier this month in Fort Myers.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, though, said on Tuesday he wants to see a reform proposal that doesn\u2019t hurt communities. \u201cWe need to make sure our kids get a great education, make sure we have money for our roads, make sure we have money for the environment,\u201d he told a Fort Myers public radio station this week.<\/p>\n

Municipalities rely on property taxes to provide police and firefighters, fund libraries, maintain golf courses and pay for special events. The Florida League of Cities has led opposition to the House proposal, but little has been said about how it would affect the voter-approved taxing districts to support children\u2019s services non-profit organizations, which go by councils, boards and trusts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t really talked so much about the consequences, except for education or police and fire,\u201d Arenberg Selzer said. \u201cThey\u2019ve kind of ignored the other things that are funded through property taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, said the House\u2019s Republican majority came up with \u201ceight different scenarios\u201d to address property taxes for homestead properties during the regular session, and none had an implementation plan. \u201cThat is incredibly irresponsible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bartleman was on the board of the Children\u2019s Services Council of Broward County for a decade. \u201cThey\u2019re the lifeline for our community,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen there are issues involving children and families, they are the safety net.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Williams-Taylor, the CEO for Children\u2019s Services Council of Palm Beach County, isn\u2019t ready to say the sky is falling just yet. For this fiscal year, the Council received more than $160 million from ad valorem taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo decisions have been finalized at the state level regarding property taxes. While any changes to property taxes would impact us locally, it is too early to determine the extent of that impact until more information is available,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

First children\u2019s services trust established in Pinellas County after WW II<\/p>\n

The framework for these non-profit umbrella organizations can be traced to shortly after World War II, when Pinellas County created a special taxing district funded by local property taxes to address children and family issues. The Florida Legislature in 1986 enabled any county in the state to create its own independent children\u2019s council as long as it secured public approval through a referendum.<\/p>\n

Michele Watson is the CEO of Florida Alliance of Children\u2019s Councils and Trusts, which serves as the statewide umbrella organization for the Children\u2019s Services Councils and Trusts. \u201cWe are one of the only states in the nation where the legislature has created the authority, the opportunity to create these special taxing districts to provide for the unique needs of children.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five other states that have similar districts often fund them through sales taxes, dedicated income taxes or sin taxes on alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc.<\/p>\n

Watson said that Florida\u2019s children services trusts and councils save the taxpayers money in the long run. \u201cIt\u2019s significantly less expensive to provide services on the prevention side than it is for the intervention side,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Children<\/p>\n

Children eat at the Boys and Girls Club in Broward County. The organization, like many non-profits receives funding from the Children’s Services Council of Broward County. Funding for voter-approved children services organizations is threatened by property tax reform.<\/p>\n

(Children’s Services Council of B)<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s taxpayer-supported children\u2019s services organizations exist in the following counties: Alachua, Broward, Escambia, Hillsborough, Leon, Martin, Miami-Dade, Okeechobee, Palm Beach County, Pinellas, and St. Lucie. Escambia\u2014funded by about $10 million in property taxes annually\u2014was the latest, established by voters with 61% of the vote in 2020, though a local commissioner tried to get it disbanded without success.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Walker Elementary School student in Fort Lauderdale during Read for the Record sponsored by the Children\u2019s Services Council of Broward County. The non-profit\u2019s CEO says Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 proposal to eliminate property taxes would rob the Council of critical funding.<\/p>\n

(Children’s Services Council of B)<\/p>\n

The Legislature, Bartleman said, is usurping the will of local voters who have approved these organizations. \u201cVoters said, \u2018We want to pay for this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reporting by John Pacenti and Adrian Jimenez Morales, USA TODAY Network-Florida \/ Treasure Coast Newspapers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Voter-approved nonprofit children\u2019s services organizations around Florida that provide essential services to children and families \u2014 after-school care,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8182,506,122045,122044,28,30,29,22899,7074,19365,412,119852,56118],"class_list":["post-288349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-ad-valorem","tag-broward-county","tag-children-services","tag-essential-services","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-nonprofits","tag-property-taxes","tag-robin-bartleman","tag-ron-desantis","tag-special-needs-education","tag-special-session"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}