Special assessments in florida cities and counties; dodging amendment 10? Available to Purchase

Special assessments have become an ever more popular form of taxation in Florida’s counties since the passage of Florida’s Amendment 10, the “Save Our Homes” amendment. Concurrently, the state’s courts appear to have relaxed their interpretation of special assessment by counties. The focus of this research, is whether Florida’s local governments are using special assessments to substitute for lost revenues under Amendment 10. Special assessments are particularly suspect because they provide a great amount of revenue and require no referenda for approval. The research relies upon analysis of county and municipal level financial data since implementation of Amendment 10. The implications of this research have broad applicability in view of the myriad tax and expenditure limitations enacted in recent years.