By John Pacenti
Ocean Ridge’s proposed $10.4 million budget includes money for a lobbyist and a part-time code enforcement officer.
Town Manager Lynne Ladner told commissioners at their July 25 meeting that a $30,000 appropriation for a lobbyist would be money well spent.
“That is not something we’ve done the last couple of years,” Ladner said. “But we’re continuing to ask for grants from the state and for potential legislative appropriations.”
Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said the state Legislature this year granted Ocean Ridge a $250,000 appropriation to find, fix or replace buried water valves. Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, vetoed it.
“It was made very clear to us that without a lobbyist you are not going to get through the governor’s office,” Cassidy said.
A code enforcement officer would be added by expanding the town’s professional services agreement with Hy-Byrd Inc. Inspections, which currently provides services for the building department, Ladner said.
The code enforcement officers would work between 12 and 20 hours per week, relieving police from having to write up residents for dirty roofs or unmowed lawns.
Commissioners worried that the hourly rate agreement could lead to abuse and told Ladner they wanted to cap the contract at $40,000.
The commission will meet on Aug. 5 to hammer out further details of the budget.
Ladner proposes that the tax rate stay the same as last fiscal year at $5.40 per $1,000 of taxable value. Residents can still expect higher bills next year, though, because property values rose 9.6%, excluding new construction, she said.
Homesteaded properties, however, are capped at a 3% increase under Florida law, while business, rental property and second homes are capped at 10%.
That means the owner of a second home or rental property with a $1 million taxable value last year, which also matched the town’s 9.6% growth in value, can expect to pay about $518 more in taxes to Ocean Ridge. However, for most residents, the homesteaded rate for the same $1 million home would be $162 more.
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