The community is abuzz with discussion about the proposed “Save Our State” property tax amendment that will appear on the November ballot. For many families, homeowners, and retirees, the idea of reducing property taxes sounds like welcome relief from costs that seem to rise year after year.

I understand that perspective. Like many of you, I feel the impact of higher insurance premiums, utility bills, groceries, and housing costs. But as our community weighs this decision, I think it’s important to ask a deeper question:

What happens when we focus on the short term without considering the long-term consequences?

Much of the public conversation has centered on how eliminating property taxes would affect local government budgets. Mayors, county commissioners, and municipal leaders have discussed the financial implications. But budgets are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. They represent investments in the things our community has decided matter.

They represent parks, libraries, roads, emergency services, and, perhaps most importantly, children.

More than three decades ago, the citizens of Manatee County recognized that the well-being of children is directly tied to the future health of our community. Voters approved the Children’s Services Dedicated Millage, creating a local funding source dedicated to prevention, intervention, and treatment programs for abused, neglected, at-risk, and economically disadvantaged children. Today, funding supports programs that strengthen families, improve school readiness, prevent abuse and neglect, and help children reach their full potential.

The decision was rooted in a simple truth: when children struggle, communities pay the price. When children grow up hungry, neglected, abused, disconnected from school, or without stable support systems, the effects ripple throughout the community for generations.

At Parenting Matters, we see both sides of that reality every day.

Our Parent Partner Program, Musical Motion program, and Chosen Families program are all funded in part through the Children’s Services Dedicated Millage. These programs exist because our community has chosen to invest in prevention before families reach crisis. We work with parents who are struggling, children who are at risk, families navigating reunification, adoptive families facing challenges, and caregivers who simply need support before problems become emergencies.

Like all agencies receiving Children’s Services funding, we participate in a rigorous annual application and review process and quarterly reports and audits. Local professionals serving on the Children’s Services Advisory Board evaluate proposals and make funding recommendations based on community needs and evidence of impact.

If the property tax amendment passes and results in the elimination of local property tax revenue, programs like ours could face significant funding reductions.

Does that keep me up at night as an Executive Director?

Of course it does.

But what concerns me even more is not the impact on Parenting Matters. It is the impact on the thousands of children and families served by organizations throughout our community.

When we talk about eliminating property taxes, we are not simply discussing revenue. We are discussing the future of programs that help children succeed in school, support families in crisis, provide mental health services, prevent abuse and neglect, ensure children have enough food to eat, support early learning, and create pathways toward healthy adulthood.

What is at stake is not an organization. What is at stake is a community’s investment in its children.

In total, Manatee County invests more than $20 million annually through the Children’s Services Fund to support:

  • Early childhood education and school readiness 
  • Food assistance and emergency shelter
  • Mental health and trauma services 
  • Services for children with disabilities 
  • Child abuse prevention and family preservation 
  • Mentoring, after-school programs, workforce development, and youth success 

These investments support dozens of nonprofit organizations and public agencies serving thousands of local children and families each year. When we discuss property taxes, we’re not just discussing government revenue, we’re discussing whether these services continue to exist at their current scale. 

(To read the most recent report on investments, including a full list of organizations and programs, click 2025 Children’s Annual Report)

Every one of these organizations exists because our community has collectively decided that preventing problems is better than paying for the consequences later.

Rightfully so, since research consistently shows that every dollar invested in evidence-based child abuse prevention and early intervention saves multiple dollars in future costs related to child welfare, health care, education, and criminal justice systems.

The good news is that we still have time.

Time to learn.

Time to ask questions.

Time to understand what would be gained and what would be lost.

And time for organizations like Parenting Matters to continue strengthening our financial sustainability.

For several years, we have been actively working to diversify our revenue and reduce our dependence on any single funding source. That work will continue regardless of what happens in November. Strong nonprofits should never rely too heavily on one source of support.

But community investment remains essential.

If you believe every child deserves the opportunity to grow up safe, supported, and connected to caring adults, I encourage you to learn more about the issues at stake, engage in the conversation, and consider supporting organizations that are working every day to strengthen children and families.

The decisions we make today will shape the community our children inherit tomorrow.