HOLMES BEACH – The city’s new budget and millage rate has received unanimous support from commissioners during an initial public hearing and vote.
Despite Commissioner Terry Schaefer’s absence, city commissioners had no trouble getting the two items passed during a Sept. 16 meeting.
The proposed millage rate was dropped to 2.05 mills, a reduction from the previous year’s 2.15 millage rate but still 12.18% higher than the 1.873 mills rollback rate. The millage rate is the rate charged per $1,000 of assessed property value for city taxes. The rollback rate is the millage rate that would bring in the same amount of revenue as the previous year.
“I don’t know how you all did it,” Commissioner Carol Soustek said. “The quality of services that people expect here are high and you kind of have to keep that up. But you all have just done a phenomenal job. It got lower than I thought it would go,” she said of the millage rate.
Soustek said that she hopes property owners understand that by lowering the millage rate from the previous year, commissioners provided a tax cut even though the city’s ad valorem tax revenue actually did go up due to an increase in property values. She added that it was unfortunate that the price tag has increased for city property owners, however, she added that increases across the board in costs make it impossible for the city to use the rollback rate to bring in a lower amount of tax revenue.
Commissioner Greg Kerchner asked if language could be added to the millage rate ordinance that explains how the tax rate works, but the idea was shot down by City Attorney Erica Augello who said it would be inappropriate to add such wording to an ordinance.
The budget presented during the first budget hearing totals $25,121,957 including $10,960,076 in reserves. The city treasurer noted that with a modest increase in reserves, Holmes Beach will have 24.5% in unrestricted reserves, just under the recommended 25% in unrestricted reserves recommended for coastal cities. The unrestricted reserves are used to run the city in case of an emergency, such as a hurricane, if the tax base for Holmes Beach is decimated. The funds also can be used to help cover unexpected expenses throughout the year with commission approval.
There was no public comment offered during the meeting.
The public has one more chance to weigh in on the budget before commissioners vote on it again. A final budget public hearing and vote is scheduled on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive. While meetings can be viewed online, anyone who wants to speak must appear in person in commission chambers.
The 2023-24 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
