March 28, 2024

Election 2008

Constitutional Amendments: What You Need to Know

November's ballot includes six proposed constitutional amendments, from a ban on gay marriage to a tax break for working waterfronts. Here's a guide.

Amy Keller | 10/1/2008

House and wetlandsAmendment 4
Conservation Land Tax Break

Sponsor: Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission)
Title: Property Tax Exemption of Perpetually Conserved Land; Classification and Assessment of Land Used for Conservation

What it does: This amendment would do two things: It would create a complete property tax exemption for conservation easements — land that a property owner agrees to maintain in its current state and not develop; second, it allows the Legislature to create a new classification of “conservation” land that would qualify for a tax reduction much in the same way the state provides “greenbelt” tax breaks to agricultural landowners.

Background: Spearheaded by environmentalists, this amendment is intended to create incentives for private landowners to leave their land undeveloped. Environmentalists argue that new conservation tools are needed to supplement programs like Florida Forever, which is running tight on funds.

Some worry how state lawmakers would implement the plan. House minority leader Dan Gelber cautions that the measure “could become a giveaway for mega-developers and have a great fiscal impact that shifts the tax burden to home-owners and active businesses” if the Legislature makes it too easy to temporarily classify property as “conservation” land. But environmentalists say lawmakers can build safeguards into the system to cut down on the potential for abuse. For instance, lawmakers might designate a minimum parcel size and allow tax assessors to go back 10 years to capture lost tax revenue if conservation land that receives a tax break is developed later.

Proponents: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Nature Conservancy, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Audubon of Florida, Trust for Public Lands and other environmental groups, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida TaxWatch

Opponents: No organized opposition

Financial impact: No hard estimates of fiscal impact are available. Generally speaking, some small, rural counties where a significant amount of land is being conserved may be pinched if land is taken off the tax rolls. State and local governments will likely benefit from the fact that private landowners, not the state, will have to maintain property with conservation easements in its undeveloped condition. Once the state formally acquires a property, it also takes on the cost of maintaining it. Brian Yablonski, vice president of public affairs for St. Joe Co. and the commission member who pushed the measure, said at a hearing earlier this year that he believed the initiative had “the potential to save millions in taxpayer dollars, with the private land manager actually managing land for conservation.”

Tags: Politics & Law, Government/Politics & Law

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