Four Holmes Beach city commissioners unanimously adopted the city’s proposed $8.67 million budget for 2011-12 at the final budget public hearing Sept. 27.
Commissioner Al Robinson was absent from the hearing.
Commissioners also unanimously voted to keep the city’s ad valorem millage rate — the percent at which properties are taxed — at 1.75 mills for 2011-12.
One mill is equal to 1/10th of 1 percent, or $10 for every $1,000 of assessed taxable value.
City treasurer Rich Ashley said that retaining the millage rate at 1.75 mills amounts to a tax decrease for many homeowners who have had a decline in the assessed value of their homes.
The rollback rate — the rate needed to generate the same amount of ad valorem tax revenue in 2011-12 as in the previous year’s budget was 1.7639 mills, Ashley said.
The 1.7639 is “actually a roll-up rate,” he said.
The rollback rate declined during the early and mid- 2000s, Ashley said. As the taxable value of homes rose each year, the city could implement a lower ad valorem rate to meet projected revenues and expenses. However, he said, that’s changed in recent years.
At the 1.7639 rollback rate, the city would receive about $2.163 million in property tax revenue, Ashley said. However, state law requires the city to budget for 95 percent of that figure due to reassessments of some properties and unpaid taxes, among other factors, he said.
The 2011-12 budget calls for $2.059 million for ad valorem tax revenues, which is 95 percent of the amount the rollback rate would generate. The 1.75 millage rate will bring in $2.059 million in revenue, Ashley said. That’s almost equal to the $2.060 million in ad valorem tax collected in 2010-11. That budget had projected ad valorem revenues of $2.17 million.
The $8.67 million budget has $4 million in reserves and carryovers, including just under $1 million for cash reserves and $430,000 for stormwater improvements. New growth projects are allocated $275,000 in the reserves.
The city’s operating budget is about $5 million. Ashley said the city would carry $2.4 million in its general emergency reserve fund.
At the ad valorem millage rate of 1.75, a homeowner with a house valued of $500,000 and with the maximum $50,000 in homestead exemptions would pay $787.50 in property taxes in 2011-12.
Robinson voted against the budget at its first reading Sept. 13, protesting the cost of operating the police department and dispatcher services.
The total operating budget for the police department in the 2011-12 budget is $2.096 million, a 2 percent increase or $41,000 more than the $2.055 million in the 2010-11 budget.
SIDEBAR
The following figures represent the changes to the Holmes Beach budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Budget year 2010-11 2011-12
Millage 1.75 1.75
Rollback 1.9368 1.7639
Ad valorem revenues $2.060m $2.059m
Total revenues $4.012m $4.598m
Total expenses $5.391m $5.888m
The city’s increase in total revenues from last year to this year comes largely from a $513,000 Southwest Florida Water Management District grant. Under state law, the city is required to show the grant as revenue. The city’s total expenses do not include its general fund reserves, Ashley said.
SIDEBAR
Anna Maria taxes rise
The following figures represent the changes to Anna Maria’s budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year. A story on the city’s budget appeared in the Sept. 28 Islander, however the graph below demonstrates how expenses dropped by about $750,000 in the future budget.
Budget year 2010-11 2011-12
Millage 1.7882 2.05
Rollback 1.9450 1.881
Ad valorem revenues $1.100m $1.153m
Total revenues $2.14m $2.220m
Total expenses $2.885m $2.14m
The total expenses declined significantly in Anna Maria’s 2011-12 budget as the city no longer has the expense of a major stormwater improvement project. The city paid off the line of credit used to finance that project by withdrawing funds from its reserve account.
With an ad valorem millage rate of 2.050, an Anna Maria homeowner with a house valued of $500,000 and with the maximum of $50,000 in homestead exemptions would pay $922.50 in property taxes for the 2011-12 fiscal year.
At the rollback rate of 1.881, the same Anna Maria homeowner would pay $846.45 in property taxes for 2011-12.