Will your tax rate go down? Manatee County budget back to the drawing board
Pointing to increased property value and a voter-approved tax increase, the Manatee County Commission has signaled an interest in lowering the countywide tax rate.
A decrease in the tax rate doesn’t mean your annual tax bill will go down, though, because property values continue to rise.
On Thursday, during a public budget meeting, Manatee Commissioner George Kruse suggested lowering the property tax rate by about 2 percent. That would offset a tax-rate increase that voters approved at the ballot box in November for the county to create a dedicated fund for land conservation.
County staff recommended setting the property tax rate at $6.58 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. Based on that rate, the average homeowner would pay about $1,498 in property taxes this year. Kruse argued that the property tax bill is getting too high.
“I personally think we need to lower our millage and work within our means,” Kruse told his fellow commissioners.
According to the Property Appraiser’s Office, property values have been on the rise this year, and Kruse’s proposal to reduce taxes wouldn’t completely offset the increase. Under his suggestion, the average homeowner would still pay about $50 more than they did last year. Property owners also pay additional taxes for schools and other agencies.
“I think we can easily lower [the tax rate] and get everything we promised everyone and probably more because every year this goes up,” Kruse said. “It goes up because every year we underestimate the revenue we’re going to collect and overestimate the expenses.”
Despite interest from several commissioners, the board held off on finalizing a tax-rate decrease because the impact on the budget hasn’t been determined. Commissioners have not directed county staff to prepare a budget that reflects lower property tax income, said County Administrator Scott Hopes.
“From a procedural perspective, I’ve got to tell you I’m perplexed because I’ve checked all my emails, I’ve been to all the budget workshops, I’ve been to a majority of all the briefings ... but I honestly cannot recall this body asking me to have staff prepare a budget with a reduction [in tax rate] in order to compare to the budget that was forwarded you in those workshops,” Hopes said.
Hopes first presented a recommended budget, which assumed that the county would not lower the tax rate, in June. At the time, commissioners praised the $854 million budget, which prioritizes several roadway and other infrastructure improvements.
Voting to reduce the tax rate at Thursday’s meeting would have forced county staff to put together a new budget that reflects the changes. Deputy County Administrator Jan Brewer said she appreciated the board’s decision to delay the decision.
Brewer, who leads the county’s annual budgeting process, explained that the suggested tax-rate decrease would remove about $6.5 million from the county’s $854 million budget. Revenue from property taxes makes up about a third of the county’s operating budget.
Kruse, who was elected in November and criticized the amount of money sitting in the county’s budget reserves on the campaign trail, first suggested the tax cut Thursday. The board held two budget workshops last month, but official votes could not be taken during those meetings.
Kruse said he thought it was clear from previous discussions with staff members that the board would like to see taxes lowered.
“Our meetings and workshops are supposed to steer policy,” Kruse said.
“This is not new,” added Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who also supported Kruse’s proposal to cut the tax rate.
While most commissioners said they would like to see the tax rate lowered, they argued against voting on it without understanding which projects or services would be removed from the budget.
“When we have unknown factors, let’s get all the facts and the information before we make a decision,” said County Commissioner Misty Servia. “We have the support” to lower the tax rate, “so let’s do it with our eyes wide open.”
Commissioners were also running up against a deadline. The county has to send notice of the tax rate to the Property Appraiser by Aug. 4 so that the office can send notices to property owners.
“I think there’s a consensus to lower” the tax rate, said Commissioner Reggie Bellamy. “I think we should let them come back and give us a best-case scenario.”
After hearing from several commissioners who were concerned about how the budget would need to be modified, Kruse pushed back on the idea that lowering the tax rate would create a complicated process for county staff.
“If you tell me that in a $1 billion budget there’s not $6 million that’s probably a little bloated in there, then I find that incredibly hard to believe that we’re running on a razor-thin budget here,” Kruse said.
In recent meetings, some board members have expressed frustration with the county’s finances. They accused previous boards of charging taxes and sitting on the money instead of spending it toward quality of life improvements.
Baugh urged her fellow board members to lower the tax rate and “give your citizens a break.”
“To me, it’s ridiculous that we keep getting more and more money,” Baugh said, pointing to the county’s growing budget reserves, which contain $108 million on top of the 20 percent reserve that is required by state law.
County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge also ran on several campaign promises, including a vow to never raise tax rates. Because his district, which includes parts of West Bradenton and Anna Maria Island, is in dire need of infrastructure improvements, he said he could not support a tax-rate decrease this year.
“I ran on improving the capacity of roads in my district. These things cost money and people knew that when I ran. My side of town has been neglected for virtually my entire life,” said Van Ostenbridge. “I made those promises. I talked the talk and now I have to walk the walk.”
As a compromise, Van Ostenbridge said he would prefer to keep the tax rate the same this year while informing Hopes and other county staff that the board intends to lower the rate during next year’s budget process. In order to give residents an additional break, the board also voted unanimously to have staff determine the impact of a $100 credit for utility customers in December.
Commissioners voted 5-2 to keep the tax rate the same as last year, with Kruse and Baugh casting dissenting motions.County staff is expected to bring a modified budget that shaves off $6.5 million in costs at the next budget meeting on Aug. 17.
When can I comment on Manatee County’s 2022 budget?
The county will hold a series of budget meetings over the next two months. The next budget meeting will take place on Aug. 17 at 9 a.m. Public budget hearings will also be held in September.
By law, the county is required to hold two public hearings before finalizing the budget. The first reading of the budget will take place on Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. The final budget hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.
People are welcome to attend these meetings at the Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton, and provide input on the county’s budget. For more information, visit www.MyManatee.org/budget.
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
