Local Governments and Property Tax Reform: No Longer Crying Wolf

As local governments loudly protest the likely impact of the local property tax cuts that will likely be imposed on them by Florida lawmakers in a special session next month, some lawmakers (in particular, House leader Marco Rubio) have argued that locals are merely crying wolf when they say these cuts will be unaffordable.

But as today's Times-Union notes, some local governments are already doing more than protesting.

[Jacksonville Mayor John] Peyton has asked his staff this month to reorganize
the government in an effort to save money in anticipation of state property tax reform expected to drastically reduce the city's revenue next year.

The headline today: Peyton has eliminated the position of "parks director" from the city's administrative structure.

Is this "trimming the fat" or hamstringing an important and basic function of Jacksonville city government? That's in the eye of the beholder, of course. But the point here is that Jacksonville leaders are worried enough about the impact of impending property tax cuts that they're already taking a scalpel (or a hacksaw, depending on your perspective on the importance of parks to a city's well-being) to basic government functions before the special session even begins.

Things obviously will get even less fun for Jacksonville and other cities if Rubio's property tax cut plan goes through next month.