A new independent analysis finds that the Children's Services Council of Broward County has delivered nearly $6 billion in economic benefit to the county over the past 11 years, generating an average of $6.18 in economic impact for every dollar of taxpayer spending. The finding arrives just two weeks before Broward voters, along with the rest of Florida, decide the fate of a constitutional amendment that could strip the agency of tens of millions of dollars in funding it relies on to keep running.
A Return-On-Investment Study With Big Numbers Behind It
The council commissioned the return-on-investment analysis itself, and according to Miami's Community Newspapers, the study found that services funded across 17 different areas served more than 2.56 million participants over the 11-year period. Some of those service areas delivered especially striking returns: studies commissioned by Florida International University and the University of North Carolina found that children's health insurance outreach returned more than $104 in realized impact for every dollar the council invested, while school health services generated $54 of economic impact for each dollar spent, per the same report.
Cindy Arenberg Seltzer, the council's president and CEO, framed the findings around what the spending prevents rather than just what it produces. She said prevention benefits the community by avoiding costly outcomes such as juvenile crime, foster care entry and child drownings, according to the report. That framing tracks with longer-term local trends: juvenile arrest numbers in Broward County fell from more than 12,000 children arrested over 14,000 times in 2001 to roughly 2,500 to 2,800 children arrested in 2026, a decline local officials credit in part to youth intervention programs funded by the council, as reported by CBS News Miami.
What the Council Actually Funds
The Children's Services Council of Broward County funds over 200 community programs that together serve roughly one in three Broward County children, per CBS News Miami's reporting, including water-safety instruction and school nurses. The agency was created by Broward County voters on September 5, 2000, as an independent special taxing district under Florida Statute 125.901 and Chapter 2000-461, Laws of Florida, with a voter-approved tax cap of 0.50 mills, according to the council's own authorizing documents. For the 2023–2024 fiscal year, the council set its operating millage rate at 0.4500 mills, per the council's published financial report. The organization has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for 23 consecutive years through 2025.
Amendment 3 Threatens the Funding Model
Voters across Florida, including in Broward, are preparing to vote on Amendment 3 on November 3, a measure that would amend the state constitution's property tax rules. The proposal was placed on the ballot by the Florida Legislature via House Joint Resolution 1-F in June 2026 and requires a 60 percent supermajority to pass, according to the Koolik Group. If approved, it would reduce the taxable value of primary residences by $150,000 in 2027 and by $250,000 in 2028, while capping annual assessment growth on non-homestead properties at 5 percent instead of the current 10 percent, CBS News Miami reports.
Per Miami's Community Newspapers, Amendment 3 would cause the Children's Services Council of Broward to lose roughly $15 million in 2027 and $30 million in 2028 if it passes. A separate analysis from the Florida Policy Institute put the numbers even higher, projecting the council would lose $16,995,948 in fiscal year 2027-28 and $30,841,780 in fiscal year 2028-29, for a combined loss of more than $47.8 million over two years — the third-largest dollar loss among Florida's children's councils, trailing Miami-Dade's and Palm Beach's. The council is subject to a 0.50-mill cap.
A Statewide Problem for Children's Trusts
Broward's situation is not unique. A September 2026 study by the Florida Policy Institute calculated that Amendment 3 would cut more than $278.1 million over two fiscal years from the state's 13 independent Children's Services Councils and Trusts combined, a 15 percent reduction in total revenue statewide. State economists project the amendment would cut recurring property tax revenue across Florida's local governments and special taxing districts by nearly $12 billion overall, with cities such as Hollywood projecting annual losses of roughly $34 million, according to the same institute's voter guide. Florida's non-school taxing entities, including children's councils, would receive no state replacement funding to cover those losses.
The contrast facing Broward voters is stark: an agency that funders say has returned $6.18 for every dollar spent over 11 years, built on prevention programs tied to measurable drops in juvenile arrests, now stands to lose tens of millions in annual revenue with no backup funding source if the amendment passes next month.
