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On Tuesday, a week after Amendment 3 passed with 62 percent of the vote, Oakland Town Manager Elise Hui announced that her office is preparing a resolution that will allow the town commission to levy non-ad valorem fees.
Non-ad valorem fees are taxes that are not linked to a property’s value, but they pay for specific services that benefit a property, such as garbage removal, fire and rescue, stormwater drainage, sewer, and street lighting. Oakland’s charter doesn’t currently allow non-ad valorem fees, which is where the resolution comes in. Hui said the resolution would be presented to commissioners at the Dec. 8 meeting.
“ It doesn't pull that trigger and say we're actually going to levy them. It just gives us the ability to levy them,” Hui said during the Nov. 10 town commission meeting. “But we have to have that in place by year-end if we're going to be able to do anything like that next year.”
Town attorney Garrett Olsen added that Florida statute required commissioners to authorize the resolution before Jan. 1 to allow taxes to be collected on the tax bill via the uniform method for the coming year. In addition, Olsen said, the resolution had to be advertised once a week for four weeks before it could be considered by the commission at the Dec. 8 meeting.
“So that’s why we got this going,” he said.
Amendment 3 increases the homestead exemption on primary residences to $150,000 in 2027, to $250,000 in 2028 and adjusts with inflation for 2029 and thereafter. It also lowers the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homesteaded properties from 10 percent to 5 percent.
As a result of Amendment 3, Hui noted that the town is looking at a loss of $820,000 in property tax revenue in fiscal year 2027-2028 and another $820,000 in fiscal year 2028-2029. Fiscal years run Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Property tax revenue funds 57 percent of the town's General Fund, which in turn funds town services.
On Nov. 4, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans for a special legislative session before his term ends to make the rules for Amendment 3 implementation.
“We’re not waiting for that,” Hui said. “We need to move forward by the end of the year.”
Hui’s announcement about the resolution was prompted by a question from Oakland resident John Gill, who asked during the public comment period, “Where we’re going from here?” now that Amendment 3 passed.
“I know you guys are making plans,” Gill said. “Let’s talk about that a little bit because the money’s gotta come from somewhere.” He specifically wanted to know what kind of cuts residents would feel “right away.”
Hui assured him that staff had already reduced the town’s budget across the board in anticipation of Amendment 3’s passage.
“There’s not additional money we need to take out for this year.” She added that departments have been advised to be watchful of their budgets. “We don't want to be pulling from reserves if we don't need to this year."
