Children's services councils and trusts fund things like out-of-school programs, child care, early learning and more.
But if Florida voters approve a ballot measure in November reducing property taxes, they may have a lot less money to fund these services.
That's according to a new report released by Florida Policy Institute.
ALSO READ: Florida’s Amendment 3 could slash property taxes — and reshape local services
If the proposal passes, FPI found children's services councils, or CSCs, would lose more than $278 million in the next two fiscal years.
That's "15 percent of total revenue, putting these services at risk of funding cuts or elimination," the report reads.
“There’s this sort of perfect storm of ways that services for children and families and communities are at risk," said Norín Dollard, the report author. She's an FPI senior policy analyst and director of KIDS COUNT, a project that tracks child well-being.
CSCs can't easily raise money. While they rely heavily on the property taxes that would be affected by the proposal — Amendment 3 — they face limits on how much they can collect and can't simply turn to service fees to make up the difference, Dollard said.
Dollard said state and federal funding for child care overall has also failed to keep pace with inflation. And there's a shrinking grant environment, she added.
As the Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils and Trusts explains, CSCs "are established by county citizens to help fund organizations that serve children and families in the county where it exists."
The group continued: "They were also created to make sure these dollars are being spent wisely and invested in programs that will provide the best outcomes for the children and families within their communities."
Meanwhile, supporters of the proposal say it would provide relief to homeowners and say the taxes have gotten too expensive.
Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn't believe the proposal goes far enough. At a Tuesday press conference, he called it "modest."
But he still supports it and encourages Floridians to vote yes.
"I think this is the one way where you can guarantee that you're going to get savings and that you're going to be able to have more money in your pocket," he said.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
