By John Pacenti
Some summer blockbusters deserve repeated viewings. The Delray Beach City Commission is no summer blockbuster.
At their Sept. 16 meeting, commissioners again bickered over the budget and proposed tax cuts before finally approving a “no new taxes” budget and tax rate that will mean savings for many property owners. The acrimony spilled over to other topics, such as allowing a one-minute window for public comments during workshops.
“Democracy is a bitch,” Mayor Tom Carney said when Vice Mayor Juli Casale pressed him on why have public comments at all if speakers are given only one minute each.
“Oh, my goodness, gracious,” Casale responded.
Carney gave a long monologue on the tax cuts. Commissioner Rob Long displayed exasperation. Casale tore into City Manager Terrence Moore on his wishy-washy position on the amount of reserves needed in case the city gets hit with catastrophe, like a hurricane.
They bickered and bickered well into the second half of Monday Night Football.
In the end, it was a fait accompli because the budget and tax rate had already been decided before the Aug. 13 workshop, giving residents the no new taxes outcome promised by Carney.
The commission formalized the rollback millage rate on Sept. 16, which, combined with the payment for voter-approved debt, means taxpayers will pay $5.94 for each $1,000 of taxable value to cover city taxes. A homesteaded property with a taxable value of $1 million last year will pay about $352 less this year.
Property values in Delray Beach increased 10.9%, but under state law the values of homesteaded properties are capped at 3% a year. For commercial and rental property — and second homes — the cap is 10%.
Because of the higher cap for non-homesteaded properties, a commercial property valued at $1 million last year would see its city tax bill go up, but only about $36.
The commission approved the rollback rate with Carney, Casale and Commissioner Tom Markert voting yes. Long and Commissioner Angela Burns voted no.
The commission also voted 4-1 to approve the $187 million fiscal year 2025 general fund budget, which took effect Oct. 1. Casale was the dissenter as again she objected to the city’s not putting an amount equal to 25% of its operating budget in reserves.
Testy exchanges on the issue of reserves occurred between Carney and Casale — usual allies on other topics — at both the Sept. 3 and Sept. 16 commission meetings. Casale was frustrated that somehow Moore and the mayor had selective amnesia when it came to a policy set in December 2022 that the city would have the 25% threshold.
“It is disappointing that there was a policy direction at a meeting in 2022 and somehow that did not get memorialized in writing,” Casale said.
Casale also wrote a Sept. 20 letter to her fellow commissioners, reminding them that reserves are designed to help the city run in case of a hurricane or other emergency. The reserves are also crucial to its bond rating, she wrote.
In what was her latest broadside against Moore, Casale said commissioners at the December 2022 meeting directed the city manager on a 25% minimum reserves policy.
“What is unclear is why City Manager Moore failed to perform his duty,” Casale wrote.
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