PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Manatee approves sheriff’s surtax

BRADENTON — The Manatee County Commission approved a surtax Thursday to help fund the sheriff’s office, though individual commissioners disagreed about whether their action should be construed as a tax increase.

Commissioners voted 4-3 to place a property tax increase of 10 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value on TRIM (Truth in Millage) notices that will inform taxpayers of their obligation in late August.

By state law, the tax rate listed on TRIM notices can be lowered during the budget process, but not raised.

The surtax would cost $15 for the owner of a $150,000 home. It is expected to raise $2.2 million for the sheriff’s office to cover a Florida Legislature mandate for an increase in the state pension fund and other expected budget shortfalls.

Commission Chairwoman Donna Hayes and commissioners Carol Whitmore and John Chappie voted against the surtax. They said a millage increase will burden taxpayers who already are struggling through the economic downturn.

“There is definitely a lot of outcry out there,” Hayes said. “I feel very uncomfortable passing any kind of tax at this time.”

But other commissioners said few property owners will see an overall tax increase because their home valuations have decreased. The county is expecting a $24.5 million, or 13 percent, shortfall in overall property tax revenue this year.

Commissioner Ron Getman said telling taxpayers to expect higher taxes is “accurate, but not functionally correct,” because most bills will decrease.

Some property owners who have a homestead exemption and have benefited from the Save Our Homes cap in past years will see a 2.7 percent increase in their home valuations this year, said Jim Seuffert, the county’s financial management director. That, coupled with the surtax, could result in slightly higher tax bills for those property owners.

Commissioner Joe McClash said he is willing to pay the surtax to maintain the current level of law enforcement services.

“I think it’s sticking your head in the sand if you say you’re never going to raise a millage rate,” McClash said.

The sheriff proposed a $92.2 million budget for the next fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, 2011, about $263,000 more than the current year, to pay mostly for three additional court bailiff positions.

“I think this is a step in the right direction for us to keep the level of service we’ve been providing,” Sheriff Brad Steube said of the surtax approval.

The commissioners approved an overall millage rate of 6.3993, the same as last year plus the .1-mill sheriff’s increase. The county’s $468 million budget will be discussed in two public hearings, scheduled for Sept. 8 and 16, before final approval.

Also Thursday, Steube responded to a letter Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston sent to Hayes asking that city residents be exempted from the sheriff’s surtax because their taxes fund municipal law enforcement.

Steube told commissioners that several sheriff-funded services — including the helicopter, K-9 unit, bomb squad and transportation units — are used by other area law enforcement agencies, including the Bradenton Police Department. Jail and bailiff staff also are paid through the sheriff’s budget, he said.

“We don’t charge them for any of those services, but we provide those services,” Steube said. “It would have been nice if he (Poston) had given me a call to tell me that was going to happen, but he didn’t.”