Suncoast nonprofits preparing for potential cuts if property tax amendment passes

Food for families who are hungry. Therapy for children who have survived abuse. Basic needs for people who are experiencing homelessness.

Each year, local governments set aside funds to support nonprofits providing critical services to vulnerable community members. Many nonprofits leaders across Sarasota and Manatee counties now fear those funds could be in jeopardy if voters advance the proposed property tax amendment on November’s ballot.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other proponents of Amendment 3 — which would reduce property taxes by expanding Florida’s homestead exemption — have said it will save money for both primary homeowners and renters, as tax savings are passed down from landlords.

But for months, local government officials have sounded the alarms that the amendment would gut the budgets that fund services like roads, parks, libraries and public safety. 

Social service providers worry the proposed amendment could have a different kind of trickle-down effect, leaving them with less funding and fewer resources in a time when demand for their services is rising.

If the referendum passes, Sarasota County could lose almost $400 million in tax revenue over the next five years, while Manatee County could lose almost $500 million, according to projections by the Florida Association of Counties.

Only a small percentage of that goes to contracts with nonprofits for human services, but as county commissioners face the tough decision of how to reprioritize funding, nonprofits worry they could be first on the chopping block. 

Even if they aren’t, nonprofit leaders say any decrease in government services could have a ripple effect. 

“A lot of the government services that are currently being offered, I think, are going to fall to nonprofits,” said Taylor Neighbors, the CEO of Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness. “But nonprofits need the money to be able to do that. So, if there’s not money available, it’s going to be challenging to provide those services.”

Loss of funds would compound with federal cuts and inflation

For the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, Sarasota County commissioners approved more than $16 million in contracts with nonprofit behavioral health and human service providers. Manatee County approved more than $5 million. 

Some organizations, like the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, made both lists. The nonprofit coordinates homelessness service providers across both Sarasota and Manatee counties, and relies on state, county and federal dollars to do so. This fiscal year alone, the organization will receive almost $100,000 from Manatee County and more than $300,000 from Sarasota County. 

Together, that’s about 20% of its typical annual budget — money, according to Neighbors,  that goes toward collecting data and coordinating housing plans, as well as supporting other services for people in homelessness. 

Those funds could be at further risk in the coming years, as the federal government also has been reshaping its funding priorities under President Donald Trump. Neighbors said a lot of the federal grant money Suncoast Partnership relies on remains up in the air. 

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, what funding we’re going to get,” Neighbors said. “I think a lot of us are still just trying to understand what the potential impacts will be, and I think the governments are trying to figure that out as well.”

Suncoast Partnership isn’t the only organization worried about funding cuts coming from multiple directions. 

Doug Staley is the executive director of the Child Protection Center, a nonprofit that provides therapy and other services for children who are victims of abuse. The center was approved to receive about $250,000 from Sarasota County this year — funding a portion of what Staley said is a $1.2 million program.

The Child Protection Center also gets funding from the federal government’s Crime Victims Fund, which has been decreasing over the past few years. 

Staley likened planning future budgets amid uncertain federal and local funding to preparing for a hurricane: Plan for the worst — funding cuts from all sides — while hoping for the best. 

“The bottom line for us is, it would hurt. Any loss of funding is a big blow,” Staley said. “We’re asked to play a game we don’t know how to play yet … We just don’t know yet what it would look like, and I don’t think anybody does at this point.”

Providers worry cuts will have a butterfly effect

Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told Suncoast Searchlight, in an article published last week, that he and his staff are preparing for possible Amendment 3 budget cuts by looking at services the Sheriff’s Office currently provides that aren’t legally required. 

That includes homeless outreach teams — civilian case managers and law enforcement officers trained to support people experiencing homelessness.

The teams work with agencies like Suncoast Partnership by connecting people who are on the streets with services. Neighbors said she’s worried about what would happen if that collaboration ends because of funding cuts tied to Amendment 3. 

Homeless outreach officers “are specifically trained to work with our population, which is very unique. They have the skill set. If they get cut, what does that look like?” Neighbors said. “If we don’t have that collaboration … who else do we lean on?”

The uncertainty about which government services could survive the amendment is putting pressure on local nonprofits. Many fear that budget cuts could also result in public service employees losing their jobs and turning to nonprofits for support. 

Even agencies that don’t receive government funding, or those with other funding sources to rely on, are worried about the demand for their services increasing.

“There really is nothing it doesn’t touch,” said Nelle Miller, the President and CEO of All Faiths Food Bank in Sarasota. “It will affect the entire ecosystem.”

Sarasota County awarded All Faiths a grant of $280,000 this year. It’s only a small portion of the roughly $7 million the nonprofit spends annually on food, and that’s not including the millions of dollars worth of food that the nonprofit doesn’t buy because it’s donated directly. 

But Miller said that even if funding cuts don’t have a major impact on All Faiths, any cuts to human services will mean more work for the food bank.

“Everything hits us. You cannot live without food, water and air,” Miller said. “Eventually people have to make the decision between what they’re going to eat and what they’re going to pay for in terms of the other life things that they need … It’s sad, but the reality is very often the first thing that gets cut is food.”

Sabeen Perwaiz, the president and CEO of the Florida Nonprofit Alliance, said nonprofit organizations around the state are watching Amendment 3 carefully, and creating contingency plans for how they might reduce an already thin budget. 

“It’s going to make the landscape for nonprofits significantly harder,” she said.