Personal property

A ConsumerAffairs analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data ranks the Jacksonville metro area No. 2 among the 100 largest U.S. metros for property taxes rising faster than home values from 2022 to 2024. The typical homeowner's tax bill rose 21.7% while median home values increased 8.1%, a gap second only to Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida. Nationally, home values rose faster than taxes over the same period, though a five-year view shows Jacksonville home values up 63.1% since 2019, outpacing a 44.9% rise in taxes.

Florida's Amendment 3, needing 60% approval, would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 while cutting the non-homestead assessment-growth cap from 10% to 5%. Backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it has split Republicans and drawn opposition from police, firefighter, and county groups warning of billions in lost local revenue; proponents argue local governments can absorb cuts after years of rapid tax collection growth.

California's Proposition 40 would create the first U.S. tax on billionaires' net worth, but two rival measures, Propositions 41 and 42, contain "poison pill" language that could nullify it even if it wins a majority. Polling shows all three measures drawing majority support, pointing to voter confusion over the ballot language. A billionaire-backed coalition, including Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, has bankrolled the opposition, with spending topping $350 million against roughly $34 million raised by supporters, including labor unions like SEIU-UHW. Democrats are split: Bernie Sanders backs Prop. 40 while Gavin Newsom opposes it, favoring a national wealth tax instead. If competing measures both pass, the outcome would likely be settled in court.

Three 19-year-old men — Blaze Fuller, James Ryerson and Samuel Carlisle — have been arrested in Chester County, South Carolina, after allegedly cutting down and destroying two Flock Safety cameras owned by the Chester County Sheriff's Office. Investigators say Ryerson and Carlisle used a saw to cut down the cameras and then beat them with a hammer between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Aug. 15, causing one camera to catch fire. The damage was discovered the next day when a deputy noticed the cameras had gone offline.

Carlisle and Ryerson each face two counts of conspiracy and two counts of malicious injury to property, while Fuller faces one count each; the affidavit values the destroyed equipment at roughly $5,150. Sheriff Max Dorsey defended the cameras as tools for solving crimes and finding missing children, calling the destruction a crime rather than legitimate protest. The case adds to a broader national debate over Flock's automated license plate readers and their expanding use by law enforcement.