The number one issue facing Florida families today is affordability. Property insurance premiums are skyrocketing, utility costs keep climbing, and inflation continues to squeeze every household budget. So when state leaders promise a property tax cut, it is no surprise that voters are inclined to listen.

But voters deserve to know what they are actually being sold. The latest refrain echoing out of Tallahassee — passed by the Florida House and Senate in a two-day special session — pushes a constitutional amendment to the ballot that inflates the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 the following year. State lawmakers position themselves as tax-cutting heroes. But this proposal is not a serious answer to the affordability crisis. It is a plan to defund local government, dressed up as a tax break — and as economic reality reminds us, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

A functional society relies on the government having the funding to perform its core duties. Our property taxes ensure that local dollars impact the local community. By dictating local tax floors from hundreds of miles away, state leaders erode your right to have local officials decide how to fund your neighborhood’s specific needs.

I have served on the Coral Springs City Commission since 2018, and I have sat through every budget cycle the city has run in that time. We have managed to keep our property taxes flat for the past four years through careful deliberation and smart management.

That experience has given me a firsthand look at where each dollar of property tax revenue actually goes — and what happens when Tallahassee cuts that revenue without cutting the obligations that come with it. Coral Springs is a useful illustration, but the math is similar across every city in Florida:

• Police, Fire & Rescue: 67%
• Emergency Medical Services: 5%
• Culture, Parks, & Recreation: 13%
• Infrastructure & Public Works: 7%

Every one of those categories is paid for out of the same property tax base. When the state shrinks that base, the categories don’t shrink with it — every line on the budget is left competing for a smaller pie. Schools are spared from the new exemption, which is the right call. But the trash still has to get picked up. The 911 calls still have to be answered. The stormwater pipes still have to drain. The parks still have to be maintained. Hurricane season still arrives every June. The work doesn’t go away when the revenue does.

That leaves cities with three not-so-great options.

1. We can cut services across the board — including the public safety, infrastructure and community programs that families depend on.
2. We can raise fees, assessments and other charges to make up the difference — which is to say, shift the cost onto renters, small businesses, and non-homesteaded property owners, who get nothing out of the new exemption.
3. We can drain our reserves, which works exactly once, and leaves a city dangerously exposed the next time a hurricane hits or the economy turns.

That is not relief. That is a cost shift dressed up as a tax cut.

And here is what should make every homeowner skeptical: This proposal does not solve a single one of the affordability problems Floridians actually face. Families are already being squeezed by skyrocketing property insurance premiums, rising utility costs and horrific inflation. Tallahassee sells this amendment as a relief package, but it doesn’t make life easier — it makes it harder.

Neglected parks, longer response times, deferred maintenance, and a slow erosion of the services that make a city worth living in don’t save residents money; they defer the cost onto homeowners through declining property values and a less livable community. You cannot starve a city’s services and call it “relief.”

Situations like this are precisely why it has never been more important to stay engaged in city government. True leadership isn’t about chasing cheap applause lines; it requires a clear understanding of fiscal sustainability and the willingness to make hard decisions. True leadership is about ensuring families continue to live in a city where they feel safe and can enjoy where they live.

If voters pass this measure in November, Coral Springs and municipalities all over Florida will face unprecedented challenges. We will have to protect our city from devastating service cuts. We cannot stop state politicians from playing games with the ballot box, but we can choose strong local leadership prepared to navigate the fallout and protect our quality of life.

Joshua Simmons has served on the Coral Springs City Commission since 2018.