Photo credit: Sorcha Augustine Photography | Arts Summit, May 2026.

Someone asked me why an arts organization is hosting an event about property taxes. Fair question. Here’s my answer: arts issues are community issues, and community issues are arts issues. You can’t pull those two things apart in a county like ours.

On November 3, Florida voters will decide on Amendment 3, a proposed change to how the state taxes property. It would raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation adjustments after that. It also slows how fast assessments can grow each year on non-homestead property. It needs 60% approval to pass.

Supporters call it relief for homeowners in a state where housing costs have gotten brutal. They’re not wrong that relief is needed. But relief has to come from somewhere, and in this case it comes out of local government revenue. Sarasota County staff estimate the county would lose roughly $46.9 million in property tax revenue in FY28, about 11%, and $87.1 million in FY29, about 20%. That revenue currently supports the Sheriff’s Office, EMS, libraries, parks, beaches, lifeguards, social services, transit, and more.

Here’s where I want to be precise, because precision matters more than alarm. Our county’s primary arts and culture grant program runs on the Tourist Development Tax, not property taxes. Amendment 3 doesn’t touch that funding directly. But state lawmakers have floated redirecting tourist tax dollars toward broader public needs in recent sessions, and if property tax revenue drops the way the county projects, that conversation is going to get louder. What happens to arts funding after Amendment 3 depends less on the amendment itself and more on what local and state leaders decide to do about the hole it leaves.

And that’s really the point I want to make. This is an invitation to understand what’s actually on the ballot, because the effects reach past any one sector.

If this community takes a hit to public safety, parks, libraries, beaches, our hospital system, mental health services, animal shelters, that’s not good for the arts organizations doing business here or the arts and arts employees who call Sarasota home. A tax shift that pushes more of the cost onto renters and businesses isn’t beneficial for us either. Arts organizations don’t operate in a bubble. We depend on the same civic infrastructure everyone else does: safe streets, responsive emergency personnel, a functioning social safety net. When that erodes, we feel it too.

On Monday, October 5th, we’re hosting Arts & Taxes at Florida Studio Theatre. Doors open at 5:30, program runs 6 to 7. We’ll have a panel of speakers who will walk through what Amendment 3 says, how public dollars currently reach arts organizations in this county, and what could change. We’re looking at it from both a state and local perspective. It’s free, but we’re asking you to reserve a seat at sarasotaarts.org.

You don’t need to already have an opinion to come. You just need to want to understand what you’re voting on. That’s the whole point.

Brian Hersh is the CEO of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County.

Photo credit: Sorcha Augustine Photography | Arts Summit, May 2026.