Tax question filled with shameless propaganda

Con jobs aren’t limited to Ponzi schemes or a promised prize from a fake lottery.

Politicians can be just as sneaky. One of the sleaziest scams you’ll ever see is Amendment 3, the assault on local government that Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s weak-kneed Legislature put on the November ballot.

Here’s what Tallahassee politicians didn’t want to know before acting: State economists said last week it would cost Florida’s local governments nearly $5 billion in real estate taxes in 2027 and almost $12 billion five years later.

That unnatural disaster is unaccompanied by a provision for state or other local revenue to pick up the slack for core functions such as public safety and bonded debt.

If this passes, get ready for the $10-per-hour parking meter; tollgates at parks, public beaches and boat ramps, and higher premiums for fire and theft insurance.

A case of political malpractice

Amendment 3 has nothing to do with government efficiency.

This is political malpractice, designed to grease DeSantis’ path to the presidency and let legislators lie to voters about having cut taxes.

It’s also a made-to-order campaign platform for Blaise Ingoglia, whom DeSantis appointed as chief financial officer and is running for a four-year term. Ingoglia harangues local spending, but ignores profligate state-level waste like the governor’s “Alligator Alcatraz” no-bid contracts. We call that hypocritical.

Make no mistake. Some cities and counties spend too much, especially on salaries. They are too addicted to the steady flow of tax revenue from Florida’s incessant growth.

But this fiscal sledgehammer is not the solution.

Literally a loaded question

Amendment 3 is loaded with misleading and deceptive language, like a scam artist’s promise to triple your money overnight.

That matters, because only the summaries go on the ballot to inform voters what constitutional amendments might do. This amendment is 20 pages long.

Its summary, from the title throughout, is shameless propaganda.

It recalls what the Florida Supreme Court said about another deceptive proposal in 1982: “A proposed amendment cannot fly under false colors. This one does.”

If the courts are to follow that and other Florida precedents, they must order the attorney general to rewrite the title and summary, as the law provides, before ballots are printed.

That’s the timely goal of a lawsuit filed in state court at Tallahassee by the law firm Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman of Fort Lauderdale.

‘It’s a campaign slogan’

The firm represents former mayors of Stuart and Key Biscayne and a new organization, Save Our Voters from Misleading Ballot Language. The name cleverly plays on the amendment’s emotionally-charged language: Save our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes.

That is neither objective nor neutral. As the complaint says, “it is a campaign slogan.” It belies the purpose of a ballot summary, which is to explain what an amendment does rather than campaign for its passage.

“Save” and “excessive” are argumentative words unsupported by the amendment. Not all homes would be protected, and taxes likely would rise on those not specifically protected.

The summary is loaded with propagandistic language such as “ensuring funding for core services,” “protecting small businesses” and “ensuring fairness for Florida residents.”

And it talks about exempting “the first $250,000 of a homestead’s value” from all nonschool taxes without disclosing that the first-year exemption would be only $150,000.

Orwellian doublespeak

The word “fairness” is Orwellian doublespeak in two major respects.

The measure is demonstrably unfair to everyone whose taxes might be raised to compensate for it, and homeowners establishing residency after Jan. 1, 2027, would have to wait five years for the full exemption.

The election law requires the courts, “including any appellate court,” to give ballot language challenges priority over other pending cases and to rule “as expeditiously as possible.” That should mean well before Sept. 19, when ballots must be mailed to voters overseas.

Even DeSantis acknowledges the courts should act quickly. Attorney General James Uthmeier and Secretary of State Cord Byrd, the actual defendants, should do the responsible thing, and concede the lawsuit now.

It should not be difficult for Uthmeier to word the summary better than the Legislature did. Granted, he’s a partisan Republican and an appointee of the governor, but every lawyer learns how much words matter.

The law provides that his rewording can be appealed if it isn’t right.

An honest summary would still pass the buck to the voters on a grossly dishonest scheme, but at least the voters might recognize a description that doesn’t cajole, coax and mislead them.

Indeed, some voters see Amendment 3 as a way to punish what they consider reckless local spending. That happens, but the proposal on the ballot is like amputating one’s foot to heal a blister. The proper cure is the next election: Vote them out.

Instead, voters are handed a deliberate and diabolical deception: Amendment 3.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.