HOLMES BEACH – After discussing eliminating the fees for business tax receipts in the 2020-21 fiscal year, commissioners are now leaving the fees intact and considering lowering property taxes instead.
During a May 12 work session, commissioners brought their previous decision to eliminate the BTR fees for commercial and home-based businesses back to the table and reversed it, reinstituting the fee.
Mayor Judy Titsworth said that if commissioners want to eliminate the fee for one year, it would still cost the same amount to operate the program, revenue that would need to be made up in a different way. She added that eliminating the BTR fee for a year wouldn’t financially help vacation rental owners.
Commissioner Carol Soustek said that she’d like to find a way to help more people than just business owners. She said that she doesn’t feel like the city can ask for a tax increase in the coming fiscal year and that she’s concerned about giving away money when the city’s leadership isn’t sure that there will be enough funds to operate at current levels.
Commissioner Kim Rash said that eliminating the BTR fees only gives a minimal financial break to business owners and sets a wrong precedent for other people in the city.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he was still in favor of eliminating the BTR fee for one year and wants to see the city’s leaders make up the lost revenue by cutting spending. His fellow commissioners agreed that cutting spending for the next fiscal year is a goal, but Commissioners Jim Kihm, Pat Morton and Soustek said they’d rather use the rollback rate for property taxes and reduce or keep taxes the same for property owners in the coming year rather than eliminate the BTR fees for one year.
“We need to come up with a reasonable budget and reasonable ad valorem rate that applies to everyone,” Kihm said.
Related coverage
