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City attorney: lawsuit filed challenging property-tax ballot title; Mulberry monitoring potential impacts
Summary
Mulberry's city attorney reported a lawsuit was filed in Tallahassee challenging the title and language of a property-tax ballot measure; staff are monitoring the case and preparing guidance for elected officials on permissible communications under state election law.
Mulberry's chief legal adviser told the commission that a lawsuit has been filed in Tallahassee challenging the title and wording of a property-tax ballot measure, and staff are monitoring the case because a court ruling could require changes to ballot language.
"There's been a lawsuit filed against the ballot measure ... alleging that the ballot title and the ballot language itself was misleading and unfair," the city attorney said. If the court finds the title or language misleading, the attorney said the state Attorney General would have an opportunity to revise the ballot language under court supervision.
The city attorney and staff said they are preparing guidance for elected officials on what they can and cannot say about the ballot under Florida's elections statutes and will update that guidance after a statewide municipal-attorneys meeting in July. The attorney described the goal as providing conservative, compliance-focused advice so officials do not inadvertently run afoul of election law while engaging with the public about the measure.
Commissioners were advised to await formal guidance from legal staff before making public statements about the ballot measure.
