Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. And the meme below says just about everything I’ve been thinking lately.
Take a look at who’s getting interviewed about Florida’s Amendment 3.
Sheriffs. Fire chiefs. County commissioners. Government officials.
Now look at who’s missing.
The people paying the bills!
At Eye on Jacksonville, we’ve posted numerous articles about Amendment 3, and the response has been remarkable. I’d estimate that 99% of the comments we’re receiving support a YES vote.
That’s not a scientific poll. It’s simply what our readers are telling us. And I’m listening.
People are exhausted.
They’re tired of watching their hard-earned money disappear into property taxes, insurance premiums, utility bills, and the ever-increasing cost of simply living in their own homes.
Think about the retired couple who worked their entire lives to pay off their mortgage. They finally own their home free and clear. Or so they thought.
The mortgage may be gone, but the property tax bill never goes away.
And when their home’s assessed value increases, their tax burden can rise even though they haven’t received a penny of that supposed wealth.
It’s paper money! You can’t take your home’s increased value to Publix and buy groceries with it. You can’t use it to pay JEA or your insurance company.
And what about the young couple dreaming of buying their first home? Or the single person working hard, saving money, and hoping to someday own a little piece of the American Dream?
Have you looked at what they’re facing?
Home prices have climbed. Interest rates make the monthly payment even harder to swallow. Then they discover what the property taxes will be. Add the homeowners insurance premiums. And just when they think they’ve stretched their budget far enough, they check what it will cost to keep the lights on and the water running.
Suddenly, the American Dream looks more like a pipe dream.
And these are the people we should be hearing from!
Instead, the television cameras seem to gravitate toward government officials warning us about everything we’ll lose if Amendment 3 passes.
One commenter put it beautifully:
“The microphone is never put in the faces of the people. Only in those who have a lot to gain from your taxpayer dollars.”
I wish I’d thought of that one!
I respect our first responders and appreciate the services local governments provide. But I also respect the people who get up every morning, go to work, pay their bills, and somehow find enough left over to send another check to government.
And I wonder when government started believing it had the first claim on everything those people earn.
We hear plenty about what government can’t afford to lose.
When do we start talking about what the PEOPLE can’t afford to lose?
Maybe that’s the real message behind the overwhelming YES responses we’re seeing at Eye.
People aren’t necessarily voting against public services. They’re voting for the chance to keep more of what they’ve earned. To stay in the homes they love. To buy their first home. To retire without worrying whether the next tax bill will force them to move.
And maybe, just maybe, they’re tired of being told that government can’t possibly get by with less when they’ve been doing exactly that for years.
We’re Handing YOU the Microphone!
If you’re a Florida homeowner, or someone dreaming of becoming one, we want to hear from you.
Are rising property taxes, insurance premiums, and utility bills affecting your ability to own or keep a home? Have you given up on buying a home altogether?
Tell us your story in the comments. And share this article with your friends and neighbors so they can tell us theirs.
We want to hear from the people who agree with us AND those who don’t.
Because the most important voices in this debate shouldn’t belong only to the people spending taxpayer money.
They should belong to the people earning it.
And it’s about time someone handed them the microphone!
