With regard to Florida Amendment #2, the Position of the Louis Alfred Nickolas Stalwart Institute is as follows:
- Approximately 9.7 million acres of Land in the state of Florida is designated as being for Agricultural purposes (i.e., Farmland). Six (6) Companies control approximately 2.5 million acres of the total 9.7 million acres – or, about ¼ of all such Farmland.
- The remaining 75% of Farmland (approximately 7.2 million acres) are owned by approximately 44,000 small Companies – with approximately 76% being Family and Individual Farms, approximately 16% being Corporate Farms, and approximately 5% being Partnerships and Trusts.
- Given pointes one and two, the effect of the Passage and implementation of Florida Amendment #3 is that the six (6) Companies that control about ¼ of the state’s Farmland will see reap a greater share of the benefit of having Tangible Personal Property used in the production of agricultural products and/or for agritourism activities be exempt from Taxation.
- Given pointe three, if the object of Florida Amendment #3 is to provide tax relief to the Farmland Owners/Holders described in pointe two, the Constitutional Amendment in question should have been expressly crafted in a way so as to ensure that the said class of Property Holders received the “Lion’s Share” of the tax relief benefit.