{"id":296246,"date":"2026-06-04T19:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296246\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:58:11","slug":"tallahassee-takeover-donna-deegan-pushes-back-on-property-tax-reduction-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/296246\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tallahassee takeover’: Donna Deegan pushes back on property tax reduction amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jacksonville Mayor\u00a0Donna Deegan<\/a>, a former newscaster, is urging citizens to \u201cread between the headlines\u201d and look at the details of a tax cut plan from state lawmakers that she says is too good to be true.<\/p>\n

The first-term Democratic Mayor warns that if a constitutional amendment<\/a> to increase the homestead exemption<\/a> passes, a decrease in city services will follow amid a \u201cTallahassee takeover\u201d that threatens the city\u2019s \u201cload-bearing wall\u201d of reliable revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cA $300 million hit is not a small hit,\u201d Deegan told reporters. \u201cWe\u2019d obviously have to cut services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deegan said the \u201cbait-and-switch\u201d tax cut, though enticing, will \u201churt more people than it helps,\u201d and is merely a \u201ccost shift, a shell game\u201d that \u201cbenefits half the city\u201d but impacts everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like an outsider coming into your kitchen table and demanding that you cut 1\/3 of your family budget,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis proposed reduction will inevitably result in roads deteriorating, libraries, pools and parks closing, public safety response times going up, housing affordability, worsening, and more homeless on our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also noted that pressures would increase, especially given the city\u2019s decision to allow public safety employees to join the Florida Retirement System<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, our property tax revenue today has barely paid, barely covered the cost for just police and fire. In the coming months, as we continue to take better care of our police and firefighters, as we promised them we would do, those costs will go up considerably. They\u2019ll take more of those property taxes. Would you have us not do that? Would the state have us not do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

She also took issue with the narrowly tailored list of essential services from the state plan as being ignorant of true return on investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe services that fall outside the state\u2019s approved list are precisely the ones that have the greatest return on investment for our city: libraries, parks, public health, literacy, housing and homelessness programs. The result is every dollar saved destroys several dollars in economic value for our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Legislature approved putting the matter in front of voters in November. If at least 60% support it, the homestead exemption will be increased to $150,000 next year and $250,000 in 2027, with further potential raises contingent on legislative approval during implementation.<\/p>\n

Local governments would be limited in what they can fund under this proposal to public safety, infrastructure, schools, debt service and pensions. County constitutional officers like Elections Supervisors, Clerks of Court, Property Appraisers, and County and City Commissions would also be funded.<\/p>\n

Deegan then compared the city\u2019s spending and return on investment to what was happening six years ago, when Lenny Curry was Mayor, responding to state leaders holding up 2019 budgeting levels as optimal by way of making the case that cities around the state are overspending on pork and bloat.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix years ago, police and fire hadn\u2019t had a significant raise in years, or the pension benefits that they deserved. In 2020, 74 miles of road were repaved. This year, we\u2019re on pace for 108,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we came into office, pools were green and closed. This Summer, for a third year in a row, 30 pools are open. Six years ago, we were demolishing buildings all over downtown, and today we\u2019ve got cranes in the air everywhere. We\u2019re doing all this, and more, with the lowest taxes. Our choice. We have purposely kept taxes low, for which we will now be punished. The lowest taxes of any major city in the state of Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deegan questioned the utility of state lawmakers attempting to understand local budgetary needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s the plain truth. This is not conservative government or being fiscally responsible. It\u2019s a Tallahassee takeover,\u201d Deegan said. \u201cIt moves all the important decisions about quality of life, your quality of life, away from you to unknown representatives in Tallahassee, all for a power grab. We get lectured often about big government. But that\u2019s exactly what this is. Local government is your government closest to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Mayor\u00a0Donna Deegan, a former newscaster, is urging citizens to \u201cread between the headlines\u201d and look at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[124583,5890,14559,121611,8191,412,232,234,233],"class_list":["post-296246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-desantis-property-tax-plan","tag-donna-deegan","tag-homestead-exemption","tag-homestead-exemption-increase","tag-property-tax","tag-ron-desantis","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296246","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=296246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}