Amendment 3,<\/a> if approved by at least 60% of Florida voters, would increase the homestead exemption for nonschool property taxes to $150,000 beginning Jan. 1, 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe exemption would increase to $250,000 Jan. 1, 2028, with annual inflation adjustments beginning in 2029. The amendment also would reduce the annual assessment cap on nonhomestead property from 10% to 5%.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Charlotte County voters decide not to extend the 1% sales tax, both the county and city of Punta Gorda would have to find other funding mechanisms for capital projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If approved, the extension would maintain the county\u2019s 1% local sales surtax, which is added to Florida\u2019s 6% state sales tax. The local tax is paid on taxable purchases made within the county by residents and visitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte County has used the 1% Local Option Sales Tax to fund capital projects since 1994. The current six-year extension, approved by voters in 2020, runs through 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some residents have questioned whether the proposed 20-year extension is too long. Lisby said the extension would allow the county to move some projects forward earlier and take advantage of better construction prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sales tax funds infrastructure needs, public facilities, parks and environmental land acquisition. The fiscal 2027 capital budget was calculated based on voters approving the sales tax extension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ad valorem revenue is used for countywide operations and services including infrastructure, law enforcement and fire services, parks and recreation, libraries and other programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Charlotte County Assistant Budget Director Francine Lisby discusses the county\u2019s ad valorem budget during a July budget workshop. Lisby is among county officials preparing the fiscal 2027 budget as voters prepare to decide measures that could affect future county revenue.<\/p>\n
Charlotte County government<\/p>\n
Residents at public meetings have cited economic hardships amid rising costs. Residents 65 and older make up roughly 41% of Charlotte County\u2019s population.\u00a0<\/p>\n
School district property taxes would not be affected by Amendment 3\u2019s increased homestead exemption because it applies only to nonschool property taxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although the final budget won\u2019t be decided until Sept. 28, Lisby said commissioners are moving toward adopting a lower countywide millage rate of 6.1275 mills, down from the tentative rate of 6.1576 mills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At 6.1275 mills, countywide property taxes on a property with $300,000 in taxable value would be $1,838.25, compared with $1,847.28 at the tentative rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A mill equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of taxable property value.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The $704 million operating budget represents a 4.92% increase from the previous $671 million, or $33 million more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell reduced his proposed budget by $7.5 million from the amount discussed at commissioners\u2019 July 23 budget workshop. The reductions included funding for a replacement patrol vehicle, airframe insurance for the agency\u2019s Black Hawk helicopter and jail medical insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In July, Prummell appeared before commissioners and cited population growth as a major budget driver. His proposed budget initially faced a roughly $10 million shortfall before commissioners chose a neutral budget option to address the gap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said as Charlotte County grows, deputies respond to more calls for service, drive more miles and face higher operating costs. The inmate population also continues to rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s budget includes expenditures for law enforcement, courts, dispatch and corrections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The final budget hearing Sept. 28 begins at 5:01 p.m. at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, 75 Taylor St., in Punta Gorda.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell discusses his agency\u2019s budget during the County Commission\u2019s July 23 budget workshop. Prummell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[133243,159667,209,211,210,853,14559,106998],"class_list":["post-403960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-amendment-3","tag-budget-hearing","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-charlotte-county","tag-homestead-exemption","tag-sales-tax-extension"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403960","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=403960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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