Broward’s 2022 November Ballot Referendums
Bottom Line: As part of this series, I’ll be breaking down the referendums on November’s ballots in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties and issuing recommendations on them. First up is Broward.
Broward has two county referendums this November. The first reads:
BALLOT TITLE: AMENDS COUNTY CHARTER TO BE CONSISTENT WITH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND SPECIAL LAW REGARDING COUNTY OFFICES
BALLOT SUMMARY: Amends the County Charter to make it consistent with a 2018 amendment to the Florida Constitution, which eliminated the County Charter’s authority to abolish or transfer the duties of county offices, and to a Special Law, Chapter 2020-194 of the Laws of Florida, which the County’s voters approved in 2020.
Yes:
No:
Overview: This referendum is the result of Floridians passing Amendment 10 in 2018. The referendum seeks to bring Broward’s charter in compliance with Florida’s constitutional law as a result of Amendment 10 which requires Broward to have an elected tax collector. Under this referendum voters would first vote on a tax collector in 2024.
Bottom Line: One may dispute the merits of Florida’s Amendment 10 in 2018 which requires the county tax collector to be an elected official. That said, there’s no disputing the need for Broward’s charter to be brought in line with Florida Constitutional law. For that reason, I recommend a Yes vote on this referendum.
The second referendum reads...
BALLOT TITLE: AMENDS COUNTY CHARTER TO CONSOLIDATE CENTRAL EXAMINING BOARDS AND TO ENSURE CONSISTENCY WITH STATE LAW
BALLOT SUMMARY: This amendment to the Broward County Charter consolidates the Broward County Central Examining Boards for various construction trades into one Central Examining Board and eliminates the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Contractors Central Examining Board to make the Broward County Charter consistent with Chapter 2021-214 of the Laws of Florida, which will limit the County's authority to license certain occupations.
Yes:
Now:
Overview: This referendum seeks to consolidate Broward's five current examining boards for the trades into a single examining board. The referendum would also remove outdated language in the charter pertaining to the regulation/trade of petroleum products.
Bottom Line: The net effect of this would be a more streamlined local government for all county matters pertaining to the trades. This should be of benefit not only to county officials but also those working within the trades in Broward. For these reasons I recommend a Yes vote on this referendum.