The city of Holmes Beach is one step closer to determining property taxes for the upcoming fiscal year.
City commissioners unanimously voted July 18 to adopt a 2.15 maximum millage rate and authorize Mayor Judy Titsworth to submit forms DR-420 and DR-420mmp to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office for fiscal 2023-24.
The upcoming fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 of property value used to calculate property taxes. The owner of a property appraised at $500,000 using the city’s current 2.07 millage rate would pay $1,035 in property taxes.
City treasurer Cindy Dunham-Tozer told commissioners the municipality’s goal for fiscal 2023-24 was to lower the millage rate to 2.0677.
“We may be able to reduce the millage, in part due to the success of city center, stormwater and roadway work that has been accomplished in this fiscal year,” she said.
The owner of a property appraised at $500,000 applying a 2.0677 millage rate would pay $1,033.85 in property taxes.
While it would be a lower rate than the current year, it would still result in a tax increase due to a $398,848,826 increase in total taxable property value over this year, according to the PAO.
That valuation spike led the city to project $716,549 more tax revenue than it collected last year, despite the rate decrease.
To avoid a tax increase, the city would need to adopt a 1.8273 rollback rate, which would raise the same ad valorem income the city collected this year, according to Dunham-Tozer.
The owner of a property appraised at $500,000 with the 1.8273 rollback rate would pay $913.65 in property taxes.
In the meantime, the city must submit a maximum millage rate to the PAO in advance of the TRIM notices, which will be issued by the PAO in the third week of August.
Dunham-Tozer said the city could set a maximum rate as high as 2.15 mills, then lower it at future meetings.
She said commissioners could adopt the city’s proposed 2.0677 millage rate as its max, locking them into the reduction and projected ad valorem revenue.
However, Dunham-Tozer recommended commissioners adopt the 2.15 maximum millage rate for now, so she could adjust the budget to match to-be-determined revenues and expenses.
“We believe we may be lowering the millage rate but want to leave the maximum number as is until we have an accurate millage rate and enough unreserved cash to meet the standards,” Dunham-Tozer said.
Commissioner Carol Soustek said she would prefer for the city to maintain some “wiggle room” and “maneuverability” by setting the maximum rate but voiced support for lowering it as they move forward.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer moved to approve the 2.15 maximum millage rate and authorize Titsworth to submit the financial forms to the PAO.
Commissioner Pat Morton seconded the motion, which passed.
Budget changes
Dunham-Tozer said she’d made some tweaks to the proposed 2023-24 budget following the commission’s discussion at their July 11 meeting.
She said she updated projected revenues from the state’s revenue sharing and half-cent discretionary taxes after receiving the numbers but expected other intergovernmental revenues to continue to “trickle in” through August.
Other changes include:
- Adding $10,000 to the public works department budget to fund the Islanders 4 Clean Water campaign and bring total projected funding up to $25,000;
- Adding $3,500 to the public works budget to cover maintenance of the tennis courts at city field due to the county transferring responsibility to the city;
- Adding $73,500 to the capital outlay budget to refinish the courts and replace the fencing;
- Adding $25,000 to the public works capital outlay budget to purchase an algae skimmer vessel to bring total projected funding to $125,000;
- Adding $205,000 to fund street sweeper services for the next year, unfunded in the initial budget for fiscal 2023-24.
Dunham-Tozer said the projected revenues and expenditures were unbalanced following the changes, so further tweaks are required.
A finalized budget ordinance will go before city commissioners for a first public hearing at 5:01 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
A second reading and final public hearing to discuss the budget ordinance will be at 5:01 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, at city hall.
A livestream of the meetings can be found on the city’s website, holmesbeachfl.org.