St. Augustine officials warn $7.8M homestead cut would force deep service and staffing reductions

St. Augustine city staff told commissioners at a special meeting that proposed state constitutional changes to homestead property taxation could strip roughly $7.8 million from the city’s general fund and force steep cuts to services and staff.

Assistant City Manager Meredith Bridenstine, who led the presentation, said the city’s total 2026 budget is about $99 million and the general fund is roughly $51 million. "A large portion of the general fund is funded by ad valorem revenue," Bridenstine said, and she described the $7.8 million figure as the high, worst-case revenue reduction the city is using for planning purposes.

The estimate comes from staff modeling of several measures under discussion in the state legislature, including HJR 201 (immediate elimination of non-school property taxes on homesteads), HJR 203 (a phase‑out that staff said the House amendment appears to have altered to produce an immediate first‑year reduction), HJR 205 (an age‑65 exemption, estimated locally at about $780,000) and HJR 209 (an additional homestead exemption of up to $200,000, estimated at roughly $4.5 million in lost revenue).

Bridenstine warned that police and fire…