News

By Sallie James

    The city will be extending lifeguard hours, hiring a full-time building inspector and increasing parking enforcement staff under a proposed $135.8 million 2014-2015 general fund budget. The overall city budget includes money for 22.5 new positions.
    The city is proposing a tax rate of $3.71 per $1,000 of taxable property value for 2014, slightly lower than last year’s rate of $3.72 due to a slight decrease in debt service.
    Property values have increased 5.63 percent in Boca Raton, with 4.71 percent coming from the reassessment of existing property and 0.92 percent coming from new construction. An increase in overall property values means the city will automatically collect more dollars without raising the tax rate.
    “I think the key point of all of this is the fact that we have been able to get through a very, very difficult period of time over last five to six years and essentially not had to cut back our services,” said Boca Raton City Council member Robert Weinroth. “As the value of the tax base improves, we are going to have some extra money to start replenishing some of the positions. We have been working with less than the ideal amount.”
    The city will give final approval to the proposed tax rate in September when the city budget is adopted. A budget hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 11.
    Under the proposed tax rate, a taxpayer with a $250,000 home and a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $743 in municipal property taxes.  The city’s non-ad valorem fire services assessment will also remain at the current sum of $85 per residential property.
    Assistant Boca Raton City Manager Mike Woika said the city made a number of changes early in the past recession, such as cutting positions and trimming other costs, which enabled the city to hold the line on property taxes.
    “We have a very efficiently run city,” conceded council member Scott Singer, crediting City Manager Leif Ahnell for his management of Boca Raton through tough economic times.  Singer said the city eliminated more than 190 full-time positions over the past several years because of the recession, and is slowly filling some of them again.
    The general fund makes up only a portion of the city’s overall $569 million budget, which also includes the Economic Development Fund, Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund, Sanitation Fund, Right of Way Beautification Fund, Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District Fund, Cemetery and Mausoleum Fund and the Golf Course Enterprise Fund.
    For 2014-15, those funds include the addition of 16.5 new positions and several new programs. Among those positions are three groundskeepers, a wastewater treatment plant operator, five information technology-related positions, a downtown marketing coordinator and an economic development director.
    One of the most discussed positions is the economic development director. Sentiment on the council for such a position is mixed. A sum of $232,700 has been allocated for the position’s salary and benefits, but the future of the position is uncertain.
    According to the budget, the job would entail developing, implementing and coordinating economic development activities, policies and programs to attract new businesses to the city, and retaining and growing businesses currently in the city.
    Singer, chairman of the Community  Redevelopment Agency, believes the city needs an advocate, and that a full-time economic development director would be that and more.
Having an in-house person available to extol the virtues of Boca Raton and shepherd the progress of projects could make a huge difference, he said.
    “I think it is a relatively small investment and we could get a large return on our investment,” Singer said. “I would like to see us move forward with some kind of position.”
    Deputy Mayor Constance Scott has expressed uncertainty. “I am not sure that ramping up staff is where we need to be,” she said at a recent council meeting. Scott suggested using funds for programming instead of spending it on additional staff.
    Other points of interest:
    • Taxpayers’ sanitation fees will not increase for curbside collection or for container/dumpster collection.
    • Water and sewer fees will increase only slightly, with residents paying an average of $1.06 more per month for water and sewer service, according to the proposed budget.