the fender defender 🏁

Amendment 3: Pain Deferred. Across Florida, local governments are reaching for the easiest cuts first. 🏗️ Manatee County: Proposed community center on the chopping block. 📚 Sarasota County: $11 million Longboat Key library project at risk. 🚒 St. Johns County: $100 million in capital projects on hold, including a planned fire station. 🚧 Jupiter: More than $20 million in potential delays, including road improvements, community center renovations and five parks. But here’s the problem: You can only cancel a project once. Amendment 3 creates recurring revenue losses approaching $12 BILLION annually statewide. Canceling construction projects may provide one-time relief, but it doesn’t solve a recurring operating deficit. Next year, the revenue is still gone. The year after, it’s still gone. Meanwhile, salaries, insurance, equipment and maintenance keep getting more expensive. You can cancel a library once. Delay a road project once. Shelve a fire station once. Eventually, you run out of projects to cancel and start cutting the services people depend on, including police, fire EMS, and other core services. I get it many are just looking for a little extra time before the real cuts kick in. Just understand the easy cuts come first and that’s not solving the problem. That’s pain deferred.