{"id":410842,"date":"2026-09-26T00:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T00:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/410842\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T00:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T00:26:12","slug":"jacksonville-first-responders-oppose-amendment-3-warn-of-public-safety-funding-cuts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/410842\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville first responders oppose Amendment 3, warn of public safety funding cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville firefighters and police officers are urging voters to reject Amendment 3<\/a>, saying the proposed property tax changes could reduce funding for public safety services.<\/p>\n

A sign opposing the amendment has been placed near Interstate 10 and Interstate 95 by the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters (JAFF) and the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police (JFOP).<\/p>\n

The proposed amendment would increase Florida\u2019s homestead exemption for property taxes other than those levied for schools to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. The exemption would be adjusted for inflation after that.<\/p>\n

Gov. Ron DeSantis has long supported cutting or eliminating property taxes, saying Floridians need tax relief. Critics, including sheriffs and firefighters\u2019 groups, say the amendment could reduce local government revenue and threaten funding for police, fire departments and other emergency response services.<\/p>\n

Kelly Dobson, president of the JAFF, said Jacksonville could lose $200 million in city funding in the first year and $300 million in revenue in the second year under the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cJacksonville, right, the city\u2019s still growing,\u201d Dobson said. \u201cWe build fire stations; we staff those with members. Staffing is a big, big push throughout the country for firefighters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobson said the amendment does not identify a reliable funding source to replace the lost revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cJSO has their own issues with funding,\u201d Dobson said. \u201cWe just don\u2019t believe the plan that\u2019s put forth does that. It doesn\u2019t provide a funding source. That\u2019s basically what it comes down to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The JFOP also opposes the amendment. In a statement, President Randy Reaves said the measure could put funding for Jacksonville\u2019s police and fire services at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our own members are property owners, and we support tax relief, but it must be thoroughly vetted and phased in responsibly,\u201d Reaves said in the statement.<\/p>\n

Dobson said firefighters are not opposed to tax relief but want a study and a plan that includes officials from across Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that a study needs to be done, coming up with a reliable funding source, and having everyone, all the players, from around the state at the table,\u201d Dobson said. \u201cWe\u2019re not against tax relief. We get it. We are people, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early voting in Duval County begins Tuesday, Oct. 20, ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

Under Florida law, proposed constitutional amendments must receive at least 60% support from voters to pass.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Jacksonville firefighters and police officers are urging voters to reject Amendment 3, saying the proposed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[133243,116,118,117,7074],"class_list":["post-410842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-amendment-3","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-property-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410842","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=410842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}