With the Oceana Oceanfront Condos getting a Certificate of Occupancy in March, Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker last week looked to the next milestone: getting property taxes from the 10-story, 109-unit structure.
“The CO was issued after Jan. 1, so that was too late to get on the tax rolls,” she said May 31. “Most developers do this so they can avoid paying taxes. But with the CO issued for one of the buildings, it should hit the tax rolls next year.”
Barker spoke days after Brevard County Property Appraiser Dana Blickley’s staff issued the tentative property value for the county’s various governments.
Blickley’s office is required to have a certified final valuation complete by July 1, but the tentative report gives the taxing agencies a head start in compiling their operating budgets that start Oct. 1.
For Satellite Beach, Blickley’s deputy appraisers estimated a taxable value of $964 million for 2019. That’s a 5.36 percent increase from last year’s value of $915 million.
And it includes $3.6 million worth of new construction since last year, the estimate shows.
Had Oceana’s southern tower received its Certificate of Occupancy by Jan. 1, Barker guessed, it might have added $300,000 to the new construction for 2019.
Instead, she added, it will certainly be part of the new construction for 2020, with the northern tower following in 2121.
To the average motorist on State Road A1A, Oceana may look like yet another sand-colored high-rise along Brevard County’s beachfront.
But it’s special for Satellite Beach, Barker said, because her city doesn’t typically see massive new construction. “Most of the time, we only see (tax revenue) increases from the existing property values increasing,” she said.
Meanwhile, Barker said, she looks to when Oceana’s property taxes roll in and give City Hall a chance to do some much-needed road projects and stormwater treatment work.
Meanwhile, Satellite Beach this year had the least increase in property values among municipalities within the Melbourne Beachsider’s coverage area.
The city of Melbourne saw the greatest jump, estimates show. Reports give a $5.4 billion property value to the mostly mainland city, which includes some beachside jurisdiction. It’s a 7.4 percent increase from $4.97 billion last year. And an additional $93.8 million worth of new construction now has a Melbourne address.
Indian Harbor Beach follows with a 6.94 percent increase, $967.7 million this year, up from $905 million last year. The city also saw $$6.3 million in new construction.
Indialantic comes next with a 5.64 percent jump, from $409 million last year to $432 million this year. This town also saw $2.2 million in new construction since last year.
Finally, estimates show, the town of Melbourne Beach saw a 5.63 percent increase from $407.4 million last year to $430.4 million this year. The town also saw $1.4 million in new construction.
