By Mary Hladky
Even if Florida voters in November approve massive property tax cuts placed on the ballot by the state Legislature, those cuts won’t take effect until the 2027-28 fiscal year.
So Boca Raton city officials, while mindful of what they could face and considering options to deal with revenue loss, are largely staying the course as they make budget and tax rate decisions for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Yet they have taken the first steps toward reducing spending. Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Jim Zervis said that in analyzing expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year, staff identified cuts that could be made now and pared $1.27 million from the proposed budget.
The proposed tax rate is $3.66 per $1,000 of taxable property value, virtually the same amount it has been since the 2015-16 fiscal year.
But it actually is a minuscule tax cut of $0.001 per $1,000, or 0.027%, which is in keeping with the city’s practice of making a minor cut so officials can claim a tax rate decrease.
Residents owning a home with a taxable value of $450,000 would pay $1,648.76 in city property taxes.
A preliminary estimate shows that the assessed value of Boca Raton properties increased by $2.6 billion this year, a 6.6% increase from the previous year. The new general fund budget, which covers day-to-day functions such as police, fire rescue, and parks and recreation, is increasing to $276.2 million, a 7.7% jump.
That includes money for 22 new full-time positions — 12 firefighters, four fire lieutenants, four EMS captains, a budget analyst and a vehicle technician — at a salary and benefits cost of $3.9 million.
That will provide additional personnel to staff Fire Station 8, on Southwest 18th Street just west of Dixie Highway, which falls short of having enough to operate both its two fire and rescue vehicles 24 hours a day.
An increase in EMS captains would allow the city to provide the same service levels on the eastern and western sides of the city.
The proposed residential fire assessment fee is increasing from $155 to $224 to cover the cost of the new fire rescue positions.
The lion’s share of the general fund budget — 63% — pays for police and fire rescue services.
Property taxes pay for 52% of the general fund budget. The rest of the revenue largely comes from charges for services, licenses, and permits and franchise fees.
The separate capital improvements budget includes $7.5 million to begin improving Memorial Park in the downtown campus, including the existing buildings and recreation facilities, now that city voters torpedoed plans to redevelop the area in concert with a developer.
Told at the June 18 city workshop meeting that the money would pay for planning, design and engineering work, Council member Jon Pearlman challenged the expenditure, calling it “outlandish.”
City spending must be reined in, he said, now that the city faces steep revenue decreases.
City officials hastened to tell him that the amount also includes beginning work to refurbish some of the facilities.
But Pearlman was not mollified. The city, he said, is concentrating on how to spend money, and not on how to cut costs. Officials need to differentiate between “nice to have” and “have to have.”
“Is anyone willing to come forward and make tough decisions on behalf of taxpayers?” he asked.
Public hearings on the budget and tax rate will be held in September, and the City Council will finalize both by the end of that month.
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