By Henry Fitzgerald
Boca Raton property owners will see a slight decrease in their tax rate after the City Council tentatively approved a rate of $3.6789 per $1,000 of taxable value, down just a tick from the current $3.6799 per $1,000.
But with that reduction comes a proposed $20 increase in the fire assessment fee for homeowners, from $85 to $105.
“As you know, costs increase each year for public safety services,” City Manager Leif Ahnell told council members July 26. “Fire services cost about $18 million a year, and with the fee the city will recoup nearly 50 percent of that cost, or about $8.9 million.”
The last increase was five years ago, he added.
If the proposed tax rate is approved, the owner of a $500,000 home would pay $1,839.45 in property taxes, down 50 cents from $1,839.95 under the current rate.
The proposed tax rate can’t go higher, but the council could lower it before final approval.
The first 2016-2017 budget hearing is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 12 at City Hall, 201 W. Palmetto Park Road.
City residents also pay the beach and park district about 91 cents per $1,000 in property taxes.
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