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A special message from Town Manager Heidi Siegel
Dear Residents:
I cannot express my gratitude enough for the feedback many of you sent me in response to last weekend’s first overview of potential impacts to Town finances by the work being done in Tallahassee. I have been adding those ideas and points in my ongoing review of the issues. Please keep them coming.
This email is the Town’s second installment in what will be a short series. We plan only two more—and the 60-day Florida Legislative Session ends March 13. Together, we are building a strong story about this “little piece of paradise” far beyond our borders. I will continue to share information that is vetted, careful, and precisely timed.
I have been asked to provide specific examples of what to communicate with our State legislators. The Town will not have a specific “budget impact statement” until we see a final policy product. For those eager to act right now, I have provide some talking points below. As you can imagine, a State legislator hearing and seeing that citizens “back home” are watching—right now, that is almost more important than the content of the message itself.
Eroding of “Home Rule”
At the heart of the property tax reform debate is the perennial discussion of “home rule.” This is a provision embedded in the Florida Constitution. As you may know, it refers to Constitutional rights of local governments to control their own destiny. The State of Florida is special but not alone in this regard. “Home Rule” continues to be supplanted in dozens of ways each year. Some say it started with “unfunded mandates” from the State more than a decade ago. Others point out it has since mushroomed into outright prohibitions—for example, not allowing local governments to choose whether or how to regulate short-term vacation rentals, or proposed State legislation superseding municipalities’ ability to regulate the use and timing of gas-powered leaf blowers.
Home Rule was intended to protect Florida’s 411 municipalities and 67 counties and allow them to protect peaceful enjoyment of property, maintain quality of life, and in some cases, even serve to protect the environment. For Jupiter Inlet Colony, this principle takes on special meaning because the Town has long valued a high “level of service.” Many small communities, for instance, do not fund a dedicated police force and instead depend on the county sheriff for all law enforcement services.
Frankly, there is no better recent example of “Home Rule” in Jupiter Inlet Colony than the recent vote to change the Town Charter. We also have a steady approach to maintaining a stable millage rate while simultaneously increasing services that benefit property values and public safety.
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