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Holmes Beach lowers millage rate

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Property owners are getting a tax break on their 2024-25 property tax bills.

Commissioners voted to reduce the proposed millage rate from 2.05 mills to 1.99 mills, a six-point reduction from what was proposed during a recent budget workshop. Despite the 2.5% reduction, the 1.99 millage rate is still 7.63% over the rollback rate of 1.8489 mills due to increases in property values.

Millage is the rate per $1,000 of assessed property value charged by the city in property taxes. The rollback rate is the millage rate that would give the city the same amount in taxes as the year before.

While commissioners reduced the millage rate below what was previously proposed, Commissioner Dan Diggins wasn’t happy with the decision.

Diggins said he wanted to reduce the millage rate to at least the rollback rate, if not lower, and use either budget cuts or the city’s reserves to make up the difference. Mayor Judy Titsworth said that some of the city’s reserves are already being used to get the millage rate to the proposed 1.99 rate.

“I appreciate that we’ve gotten down to what we’re talking about now, 1.99, but I think it’s time we stopped growing government here a little bit,” Diggins said. “Just for one year, I’d like to see government stop growing for one year and get us back down, if not to the rollback rate, close to the rollback rate. Let’s face it, people are leaving this island, maybe not as often as they were before, but one of the reasons they’re leaving is taxes and insurance. We can’t do anything about insurance but we sure can do something about taxes.”

Diggins went on to say that he’s proud of the work that Titsworth and the city have done to rebuild flagging reserves, but he said it was time to give some money back to the taxpayers. He also said it would only take a 1.9% cut in each city department to reach the rollback rate this year.

“I don’t think that’s too much to ask for,” Diggins said.

Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he felt it was a noble cause to reduce rates or hold them steady as much as possible, but he feels a further reduction in the budget for the coming fiscal year would result in a loss of services. Diggins said he doesn’t want to reduce services, but he feels there’s enough “fluff” to cut the $475,000 that would make the difference between using the rollback rate and using the 1.99 millage rate.

Titsworth said the reason for having so much in reserves is to have money for an emergency situation, such as a hurricane, where the city may get reimbursed for expenses by FEMA, but it requires money up front for items like debris removal. She said the budget had to be increased $50,000 to pay for street sweeping to keep city roads and bike lanes clear for users. She also said she took a look at the budget and made what cuts she felt could be made but doesn’t see where any additional funds could be cut.

“We’re not growing government, we’re doing the best we can to retain property values and keep people safe out here,” Titsworth said.

A second and final public hearing on the millage rate is scheduled on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 5:01 p.m. at Holmes Beach City Hall, 5801 Marina Drive. Anyone wishing to speak must appear in person during the meeting

Holmes Beach Commissioners approve budget first reading

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

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.

Commissioners give budget final approval

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners passed the final reading and public hearing for the 2022-23 fiscal year budget with only days to spare and a major hurricane close to making landfall just to the city’s south.

City leaders had set Sept. 27 as the date of the second and final vote and public hearing for the new budget ahead of the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, however, the arrival of Hurricane Ian and a mandatory evacuation notice for Anna Maria Island upset those plans. To keep the meeting plans on track, commissioners met at city hall but the public was allowed to participate and speak through Zoom.

Commissioners voted 4-1, with Commissioner Jayne Christenson dissenting, to pass both the proposed 2.07 millage rate and the $25,336,242 proposed break-even budget.

The 2.07 millage rate is less than the previous 2.25 millage rate, however, it still creates a 6.1% increase for taxpayers over last year’s numbers due to increases in property values over the past year.

The new budget accounts for $260,605 in mayor and commission spending, $1,725,857 in general government expenses, $793,646 to fund the city’s code compliance department, $5,105,342 in funding for the Holmes Beach Police Department, $3,794,994 in public works expenses and $1,358,154 to fund the building department. Other expenditures include $2,919,647 from the collected stormwater utility fees, $11,000 from the fifth-cent gas tax, $725,925 from the half-cent tax and $6,375,912 in carryover and reserve funds.

Revenue sources include $888,163 in state resources, $11,852,380 from local sources, including taxes paid by property owners, and $12,595,699 in carryover and reserves.

Christenson said she was voting against the millage rate and budget because she feels that the city could “do better” and reduce taxes for city property owners further than the .18 cut in the millage rate.

Commissioner Kim Rash, who is not running for re-election in November, said he hopes that future commissions can do more to reduce the financial burden on taxpayers.

Mayor Judy Titsworth said there’s only so much that city leaders can do considering infrastructure and other city-wide repairs and replacements that need to be made as quickly as possible to combat the rising demand on roads, sewers, storm drains, water and other resources, along with increases in tourist populations that require more police officers to keep city streets safe. However, she added that city staff members are constantly seeking out other funding sources, including grant opportunities, to reduce the monies needed from taxpayers.

Commissioners seek additional spending cuts

Commissioners seek additional spending cuts

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – The first budget meeting of the year was a July 7 work session that left commissioners considering hard decisions for the coming fiscal year.

City Treasurer Lori Hill presented a draft of the proposed 2020-21 fiscal year budget that she said could have as much as a 35% reduction in revenue and showed a 1.5% cut in spending from the previous year’s approved budget. With the cut in revenue, to meet expenses and still have enough left in the bank for a recommended 25% of annual expenses operating fund, Hill said the city would need an extra $822,746 to put in reserves. And while the city’s budget was drafted at the previous year’s 2.25 millage rate, the rate charged per $1,000 of assessed property value, Hill said that rate would need to be increased to 2.62 mills to fully fund the deficit.

Commissioners will have to set the maximum millage rate during their July 21 regular meeting. Setting the maximum millage rate doesn’t mean that will be the rate charged to residents, but it will be the highest rate commissioners will be able to charge for the coming fiscal year which begins Oct. 1.

With property values in Holmes Beach increasing, setting the millage rate at 2.25 mills means a tax increase for city property owners. At 2.25 mills, Hill’s draft budget shows a $192,378 increase in ad valorem tax, the amount received from property taxes. If commissioners increase the millage rate to 2.62 mills, it would mean an increase over the increase caused by rising property values of $185 for a home with a $500,000 taxable value, $240 for a home with a taxable value of $650,000 and $316 for a home with a taxable value of $850,000. The increase in taxes is on top of an already approved stormwater assessment increase which Hill estimates will raise those fees an average of $150 over the previous year.

Commissioners Jim Kihm and Kim Rash both said they would be willing to forgo their entire salaries as commissioners to help close the gap in the deficit to not put the burden solely on the city’s residents and property owners. Rash is currently up for re-election on Nov. 3 so he would only be able to follow through on his promise if re-elected. Commissioners are given a stipend of $760 per month for their service to the city. The mayor’s stipend is planned at $2,520 per month for the coming year. Both amounts include cost of living increases.

Kihm said that he feels this will be a “need” year for the city, not a “nice to have” year and encouraged all department heads to take another look at the budget to see what expenses can wait. He suggested considering starting the cuts with the $12,000 budgeted for new computers for the mayor and commissioners as well as holding off on the estimated $33,625 purchase of new agenda management and webcasting software and reconsidering planned new hires.

With a revenue shortfall, he said that spending must be readdressed, that the city can’t afford to spend in a deficit, depleting reserves, and that he’s not in favor of raising taxes.

With residents already anticipating a tax increase, Rash said he’s not in favor of raising taxes further.

Hill said that hopefully within the coming weeks she’ll have a better idea of the amount of revenue to expect from state sources and some clarity on the future of the $51 million in Bert Harris cases facing the city in Manatee County Circuit Court. Currently, in addition to an insurance policy with the Florida League of Cities, the city plans to have $1 million set aside for the cases in reserves by the Sept. 30 end of the current fiscal year that could be added back to the general fund reserve if the cases are settled in the city’s favor. She said the amount of money tied to the cases has also led to a substantial increase in the amount of insurance premiums the city pays.

For the mayor/commission portion of the budget, expenses are expected to come in at $220,337 including the $12,000 for computers, $8,500 for travel and $81,642 for commission and mayoral salaries and associated taxes.

The city’s general government budget, including lobbyists, the clerk and treasurer’s offices, contributions to The Center of Anna Maria Island and other community organizations, professional services, utilities and operating supplies, is estimated to come in at $1,777,634, a decrease of $19,217 over the previous year despite increases in insurance, staff salaries and computer/IT services.

The budget for the Holmes Beach Police Department is anticipated to come in at $3,575,242, just over the previous year’s budget of $3,410,457. The planned expenses include increases in insurance and utility services, as well as an increase of $51,189 in IT services, including a required upgrade to the department’s software at $35,200 to be compliant with Florida Department of Law Enforcement standards. Police Chief Bill Tokajer said he’s applied for a grant to cover the cost of the software upgrade and hopes to receive news that those funds will be awarded soon. Also budgeted is $18,000 for the purchase of a new side-by-side vehicle for beach patrol to replace an aging vehicle that Tokajer said costs more to maintain than it would to purchase a new one. He said he hopes to receive grant funds of $6,000 to help with the purchase. An additional $25,000 is also budgeted to purchase hardware to outsource parking tickets.

The budget for the public works department tops out at $1,824,852, just under the previous year’s budget of $1,830,361 despite increases in insurance, salaries and overtime to accommodate 11 full-time employees and materials/supplies. Two of the budgeted increases questioned by Kihm include $175,000 to dredge Sportsman Harbor and $25,000 to reseal the parking lot at city hall. He also questioned spending $38,000 to update the city’s T-end boat docks with electricity.

Director of Development Services Eran Wasserman said that he would take another look at the parking lot but that issues there will need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

City Engineer Lynn Burnett said that she was applying for grant funds for the dredging project at Sportsman Harbor but that if commissioners took it off the budget, the project wouldn’t be eligible for the grant funds. In order for the project to be eligible for the grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, she said the city has to prove that the project is necessary and important. If the grant funds are not received, she said the expense can be postponed to the following fiscal year.

The building department’s budget is expected to come in close to the previous year at $862,363 with the primary difference being in the amount of revenue the department generates. Due to changes in the department’s permit fee schedule, the city’s building department is expected to generate $324,903 less in permit fees than in the 2019-20 fiscal year. Hill said that the department would need about $150,000 more than anticipated revenue for the department to meet its spending for the 2020-21 fiscal year, funds that she said were received in excess by the department during the current fiscal year and have been set aside for the purpose of making up lost revenue in the coming year.

The Code Compliance department had the biggest jump in anticipated spending with an increase to $566,471, an increase of $90,007 over the 2019-20 approved budget. Helping to make up that increase is $75,000 for court recorders for special magistrate hearings, a $13,400 increase in insurance and $25,000 for a consultant to evaluate how the department is run and suggest new policies, procedures and best practices designed to make code compliance more efficient, lessen response time and ultimately save the city money, according to Wasserman.

Where city leaders expect to be hit hardest is in stormwater and infrastructure funds and improvements.

Hill is expecting funds for the half-cent discretionary tax and fifth cent gas tax to come in at around 65% of the normal amount due to COVID-19. Despite the increase in stormwater fees, she said the fifth cent and half-cent will both have a negative projected cash rollover at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year. Hill estimates that the fifth cent tax will have -$138,906 rollover at the end of the current fiscal year and -$328,323 at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year. The half-cent tax is expected to have -$88,176 at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year. Burnett said that the city cannot go back on planned infrastructure projects, many of which are ongoing, and that the deficits in spending will have to be covered by the city until FEMA matching funds are received or the revenue from the two tax sources is increased. City leaders also plan to renew their request for $3 million in state appropriations funds for stormwater and infrastructure improvements in the coming legislative session. This year, city leaders were awarded $2 million in appropriations funds but those funds disappeared when Gov. Ron DeSantis cut the state budget before signing it in June.

After the maximum millage rate is set on July 21, commissioners plan to have public hearings on the budget in August and September to set the actual millage rate and approve the final draft of the budget before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

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No stormwater fee relief for residents

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No stormwater fee relief for residents

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – There won’t be reduced stormwater fees on any Holmes Beach property owner’s trim notice in the fall.

Commissioners voted in December to raise the city’s stormwater fee to $2.95 per 100 square feet of lot space from the $1.50 per 100 square feet that property owners paid in 2019. After receiving some feedback from residents and owners with larger properties, including the Key Royale Club’s golf course management, commissioners committed to discussing whether or not to allow exceptions to the higher stormwater fees for certain property owners, such as churches, the golf course on Key Royale and low-income residents. That conversation ended during a Feb. 11 work session when commissioners decided that no exceptions to the stormwater fee will be given.

City Engineer Lynn Burnett presented commissioners with options, including giving low-income property owners and the golf club a break on the increased fee, decreasing it down to the current $1.50 fee. The issue, she said, is that by reducing the fee for some, it would mean the burden would have to be carried by other property owners and it would take longer to fund the repairs and replacements needed on the city’s failing infrastructure. Burnett said that even properties with their own stormwater infiltration systems and retention ponds are still a part of the problem creating flooding situations on the Island.

“Every inch of property on this Island, except Grassy Point, contributes to the problem,” she said. With higher than normal tides and heavier rainfall events, Burnett said the overdevelopment of the Island is creating too much strain on a failing system that’s outlived its useful years.

Commissioner Jim Kihm said that with a huge bill in front of city leaders for repairs and replacement, he felt the $2.95 stormwater rate already voted on should stand.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We’re all part of the problem. My feeling is that we all need to be part of the solution.”

While Kihm said he doesn’t like raising fees or taxes, funding has to be secured to fix the infrastructure problems.

“It costs something to live here,” he said.

Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he wasn’t in favor of lowering the $2.95 rate.

“I’m paying my fair share,” he said. “It’s worth the investment for the city to protect the future of what could become an inundated island.”

“You don’t want to walk out of your house into a pond,” Schaefer added.

Commissioner Carol Soustek said that if commissioners agreed to go with the stormwater fee already voted on, she didn’t think there could be exceptions.

“Everybody gets the tax, everyone pays the same,” she said.

If the city is successful with the Bert Harris Act cases facing it, Soustek said she hoped the funds put in reserve for that can be used to help fund infrastructure improvements and lower the burden on property owners.

“It’s a burden on everybody, we all have to pay the price,” Kihm said.

Though there are no exceptions to the fee, property owners still have the option to appeal the fee. Appeals have to be submitted to the city clerk’s office in writing. Appeal forms are available at Holmes Beach City Hall.

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Holmes Beach passes maximum millage rate

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Holmes Beach.

HOLMES BEACH – Property owners won’t receive a shock when they receive trim notices the third week in August, but they will see a slight increase in property taxes.

Commissioners voted unanimously to keep the city’s maximum millage rate at 2.25 mills for the 2018-19 fiscal year. Though this is the same rate as last year, property value increases bring city taxes up 6.83 percent over the 2.1062 mills rollback rate, which would bring in the same amount in revenue for the city as last year. The increase brings up the city’s revenue from ad valorem taxes from $3,946,331 in the current fiscal year to $4,255,843 in the 2018-19 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The millage rate is the amount charged to property owners per $1,000 of taxable property value. Forms submitted to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office show the city with an adjusted taxable value of $1,950,802,312.

After adjustments were made following two public workshops on the budget, City Treasurer Lori Hill presented commissioners with a revised draft budget totaling $15,450,809 including more than $7 million in carryover and reserves.

Two public hearings will be held to discuss and take a commission vote to approve the new fiscal year budget at 6 p.m. on Sept. 13 and 25 at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.