DUNEDIN, Fla. — The City of Dunedin is taking a proactive approach to a potential financial hit, preparing a contingency budget plan in case Florida's Amendment 3 — a property tax cut measure — passes in November.
City finance officials say the contingency plan is expected to identify about $3 million in savings across several departments.
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"We're working on a contingency plan that will come up of savings of $3 million," said Les Tyler, Director of Finance for the City.
Departments preparing contingency plans include community development, housing, facility maintenance, I.T. services, library, parks and recreation, and streets.
In the first year, the City projects a loss of more than $4.7 million, including revenue impacts to fire and rescue, EMS, and library services. That figure grows significantly in subsequent years.
"The total impact in year two and after is just over $7.6 million with everything combined," said Tyler.
Community members have also weighed in on the upcoming budget, suggesting a range of cost-saving measures — including delaying parks and recreation projects.
"Unless they are creating a safety issue, we think that these can be reduced or delayed," said Cathy Harvey, a community members on the Board of Finance.
Another suggestion from the group was passing credit card processing fees on to customers rather than having the city absorb the cost — a move that could save the City about $330,000.
"So we believe that these fees should be passed on to the people, as it is in many cases now at restaurants and other places, that you're paying the convenience fee of paying by credit card," said Harvey.
While no final decisions have been made, Mayor Maureen "Moe" Freaney said the biggest impact of Amendment 3 passing would be felt in personnel.
"You got to be straight out with people, the bottom line is it's going to be people, obviously it's going to be operational, but it's going to be people," said Freaney.
City staff say the contingency plan will be presented to the City commission at special meetings in September. If the property tax amendment passes, the plan would be implemented Jan. 1, 2027.
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