The Volusia County Council agreed on Tuesday that a full property tax rollback in the county’s main General Fund, beefing up public protection and keeping adequate reserves on hand for the unknown is the right mix for next year’s budget.
On Tuesday, the Council began the annual process of adopting a new budget for the next fiscal year by setting the preliminary tax rates needed to fund the county’s operations for fiscal year 2022-23. The proposed tax rates include a full rollback in five of the county’s nine property tax-supported funds, while the rates in the other four funds would remain unchanged. As proposed, the property tax rate for the General Fund, the county’s primary, tax-supported fund that finances countywide services, would decrease 9.9% -- from 5.3812 mills to 4.8499 mills. This marks the fifth consecutive year that the county’s General Fund tax rate has gone down, bringing the rate to the lowest it's been in nearly 15 years.
In addition to the County Council setting the preliminary tax rates, Tuesday also saw the release of County Manager George Recktenwald’s recommended budget for the next fiscal year. It includes funding for 15 new firefighters, eight emergency medical technicians, seven paramedics, two ambulance supply technicians and six corrections officers. For corrections, this will be the second year of a three-year plan to add 18 new officers. And the Fire Fund includes money to pay for the relocation of two fire stations and purchase of two fire trucks, an ambulance and 27 replacement cardiac monitors. Plans also are in the works to renovate several other fire stations in future budget years.
“My staff and I, in great partnership with our constitutional offices, have put together a fiscally responsible budget that will continue to fund critical services throughout Volusia County,” Recktenwald wrote in his budget message to the County Council.
The proposed budgeted is helped in part by growth in the county’s tax base and an increase in collections from other revenue sources such as the sales tax and state revenue sharing. The Council got a preview of the budget on July 5, and County Chair Jeff Brower was among the council members who said he liked what he was seeing.
“We’ve worked on this for 18 months. I don’t have any complaints, I have applause and I’m grateful and thankful for how hard you’ve worked,” Brower said Tuesday. “It’s a good budget.”
In addition to the general fund, Tuesday’s preliminary rates included a full rollback in the Library Fund, the Municipal Services District (MSD), the Ponce De Leon Port Authority and the Silver Sands Bethune Beach MSD. The tax rate for the Fire Rescue District, the East Volusia Mosquito Control District and the voter-approved ECHO and Volusia Forever programs would stay the same.
Tuesday’s votes pave the way for the Property Appraiser’s Office to mail out the annual Truth In Millage (TRIM) notices next month notifying property owners of the proposed tax rates for all of the taxing authorities in Volusia County. Now that the county’s TRIM rates have been adopted, the County Council can reduce the tax rates prior to final adoption, but can’t increase them beyond what was preliminarily approved on Tuesday. While the adopted figures could change, the county’s operating budget for the next fiscal year is recommended at $1.06 billion. The portion that finances countywide services, the General Fund, currently is proposed at $376.6 million.
The County Council will finalize the budget and tax rates during a series of public hearings in September, just in time for the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.
Original source can be found here.
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