Vote no on Amendment 3

The vote on Amendment 3 is important to our local community. Although all of us do our share of grumbling, Manatee County offers very good amenities for the community to enjoy, especially our libraries and parks. I moved here many years ago for many reasons, chief among them was the solid local library system.

Before I moved here, I would check out different places to see if they offered a good library system. Some had wonderful libraries, some not so much and some did not even have a library. To me, it told me what kind of community it was and forced me to ask the question “What does it say about a community that does not value libraries”?

Libraries cater to all ages and serve the entire community. Libraries have become a type of town hall where the community can gather, learn, discuss and have access to the world for free. Under proposed Amendment 3, the state legislature could enact procedures that would result in greatly reducing the funding for our libraries, parks, and children’s services, as well as resulting in major cuts to the services offered.

Also, Amendment 3 does not protect libraries, parks, and children’s services from the state legislature enacting procedures that could prohibit localities from using local non-school property taxes for any of these services. Is this the kind of community we want to live in? Do we really want to markedly cut funding for these services and hand local control to Tallahassee?

I understand that increasing the homestead exemption is very appealing, but is it worth cutting funding for libraries, parks, and children’s services, and handing over local rule to the state? Please vote NO on Amendment 3.

Colleen Lundwall
Lakewood Ranch