Town’s tax rate jumps dramatically — The Briny Breezes Town Council unanimously agreed to nearly double the tax rate for the new fiscal year, approving a rate of $6.75 per $1,000 of taxable property value, up from the $3.75 per $1,000 residents paid in the previous year.
Under the new rate, for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1, the owner of a mobile home with a taxable value of $150,000 would pay $1,012.50 in town property taxes, a $450 increase.
The new rate was recommended by Town Manager Bill Thrasher, who said it is necessary as the town is seeking a $2.5 million loan from the state of Florida for capital improvement projects. The projects include drainage improvements and enhancing the town’s entire sea wall.
Given the town’s current property valuations, the $3 increase will raise about $300,000 to cover debt service payments.
Thrasher made the same tax rate proposal last year, but he pulled back and recommended keeping the rate at $3.75 per $1,000 when he realized the town couldn’t get a loan in time.
The town’s tax rate had been at the state-maximum $10 per $1,000 up until 2023, when it was reduced dramatically with some police costs shifted to the town’s corporation, Briny Breezes Inc., which then charged property owners an assessment. That was done to give room to raise the tax rate in the future for money the town would need to make debt payments on the anticipated loans.
— Henry Fitzgerald
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