Property taxes will rise in Holmes Beach for a second year if the city stays its course.
Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson, along with treasurer Lori Hill, debuted a draft budget July 26, when commissioners set a tentative maximum 2.25 millage rate for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Millage — $1 per $1,000 of property value — cannot exceed the maximum, but can be lowered before the final vote on the budget.
While the tentative rate was set at the same value as the 2015-16 millage, increases in property values and spending will result in a 6 percent tax increase if commissioners retain the 2.25 millage rate when they review the proposed spending-revenue package.
The increase would give the city an additional $235,436 in ad valorem revenue, raising the total property tax to $3,590,558, more than half of the city’s $6,723,918 operating revenue budget.
With possible increase in taxes comes the question of how those funds would serve taxpayers.
Much of the budgeted increases in spending are shown in the draft as reserves or contingency funds.
Mayor Bob Johnson and commission’s budget shows an increase of $20,000 in reserves.
The city’s general government budget lists a $100,000 increase to provide for a legal/other contingency fund, along with a planned $65,000, an increase from zero in the 2015-16 fiscal year, for the reactivation of the planning commission.
Upgrades to the commission chambers amounting to $9,500, an $8,000 increase over the current year’s budget, include a document projector, replacing microphones and a new computer monitor.
While the Holmes Beach Police Department’s draft budget indicates minor increases in some areas, primarily to compensate officers and upgrade equipment, planned expenditures of $2,848,710 actually come in slightly under this year’s budget of $2,849,225.
Despite planned increases in employee compensation, the total code enforcement draft budget for 2016-17 is close to the current year’s budget at $184,519.
A $227,506 planned increase in expenditures for the public works department includes an additional $109,173 for renovations to Grassy Point Preserve, an increase of $50,500 to repair and replace equipment and $57,000 in other planned capital expenses. Those include boat ramp improvements, seawall and dock repairs and $10,000 for city beautification projects.
The building department’s draft budget shows income and expenses at $642,747, with no rollover from the current year. The department’s total planned expenses are estimated to decrease from $811,220, the amount budgeted in the current fiscal year.
The city’s budget includes $441,000 from the 5-cent tax fund, amounting to an estimated $1,143,383 in 2017, to begin work on the proposed AMI SUN Trail. However, the trail was not approved as a project for the 2016-17 federal TIGER grant.
The new fiscal year will begin Oct. 1.
Copies of the draft budget are available to the public in the lobby at city hall.
Commissioners will hold two public hearings and votes on the budget. The first meeting will be 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13. The second public hearing and final vote will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
Holmes Beach 2016-17 budget
Total proposed budget expenditures: $12,291,643
Total proposed budget revenues: $12,291,643
Proposed reserve spending: $0
Tentative millage rate: 2.25
Rollback rate: 2.1191
Percent of increase: 6
Total assessed property value: $1,668,097,399
2015-16 budget
Budget expenditures/revenue: $11,392,875
Reserve spending: $0
Millage rate: 2.25
Rollback rate: 1.6158
Assessed property value: $1,648,756,348