By Angie Francalancia
Average taxpayers in Boca Raton would pay about $52 more to the city in the budget year that begins Oct. 1 under a plan presented by City Manager Leif Ahnell that combines increased property taxes and higher fire-service fees.
In a budget workshop in late August, Ahnell outlined how a property tax rate of $3.51 per $1,000 of taxable value plus an additional $20 for fire service would fill the hole in Boca Raton’s $120 million operating budget. In addition to cutting expenses and raising taxes, Boca Raton would use $1 million from its reserves to fill a gap between dollars and expenses that started out as a $7 million shortfall.
The budget includes $3.1 million in increased expenses, mostly for public safety salaries and pension benefits, but city officials also cut nearly $2.7 million for a net increase in spending of about $385,000.
While Councilman Anthony Majhess objected to increasing the fire-service fee — a move he describes as circumventing increases to the property tax rate — other council members said they believe the fees are a fairer way of ensuring everyone pay equally for the service.
The owner of a home with a taxable value of $300,000 would pay to the city $1,053 in taxes — $32 more than last year if property values remained the same — and an $80 fire service fee, up $20 from last year’s $60 fee.
Overall, property values dropped about 2.2 percent, meaning some people’s taxes might be lower. But owners of homesteaded properties capped by Florida’s Save Our Homes Act would continue to pay increases in taxes if the property’s capped value is lower than its appraised value.
City officials believe the higher tax rate, coupled with cuts in spending will bring the budget more closely in line for the future, Assistant City Manager Mike Woika said.
“Next year we expect kind of another break-even year. If you look at property values now, we’re still seeing some drops. We’re looking at another flat, slightly down year before things start to go in the other direction. So these proposed adjustments get us through the flat years,” Woika said.
Boca Raton saw new construction offset some of the existing properties’ decrease in value, for a net decrease of only .65 percent, Ahnell said.
Most of the $3.1 million increase in spending is for fire and police salaries and pension obligation, Ahnell said. That portion amounts to $2.9 million. To find those dollars, Ahnell said, he cut $2.7 million from the budget, including reducing what was spent last year for property insurance, liability insurance, workers’ comp insurance and facilities maintenance costs.
The budget amounts to the fifth straight year of cuts, and a 22 percent reduction in expenses since 2008, Ahnell said.
“Cutting these amounts of money are having significant affects on services,” he said. “If we cut anymore, it will affect services.
“This should not be a surprise to anybody. There is no money for anything new,” he said.
Boca Raton will hold public hearings on the budget on Sept. 12 and 26. Ú
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