Improvements that optimize quality of life and contribute to increasing property values are a financial focus for both Indialantic and Melbourne Beach as the new fiscal year budgets for each town are finalized.
Overall revenue from property tax in Indialantic is expected to increase by about $108,000, from $2,358,444 last year to $2,466,502 in 2020. The numbers are similar in Melbourne Beach, with an increase of $109,529, up from $1,787,844 last year to $1,897,373 in 2020.
With approximately 1,818 taxable properties in Indialantic, that averages out to an increase of $59.44 per property.
In Melbourne Beach, with 1,620 taxable properties, the average increase would equate to an additional $67.61.
But Indialantic Town Manager Michael Casey said, in reality everyone does not pay the same, and actual amounts depend on several factors including individual property value and exemptions – and can change as houses are sold or new construction takes place.
In Indialantic, the new budget includes funds for landscaping along the Fifth Avenue median and the purchase of two kiosks for Nance Park to replace the existing parking meters. There is also funding to replace outdated software in the building department, replace a pick-up truck used at the beach, add a part-time maintenance position to public works, and convert two part-time administrative assistant positions to full time.
In Melbourne Beach, Town Manager Elizabeth Mascaro said the town’s key focus is funding its long-term savings for capital items.
“For example, each year we put $16,500 into the account so we can purchase our police vehicles without having to pay $33,000 one year and zero the next,” Mascaro said. “If the town decides a vehicle isn’t necessary to purchase next year, then those funds remain designated for a police vehicle purchase unless the commission appropriates those funds for a different purpose.”
Other long-term capital items include painting the community center and installing a new roof, a new fire truck, and computer replacements. The town also sets aside $100,000 each year to pave one mile of the 19 miles of road it maintains. But since it isn’t cost-effective to pave just one mile per year, the town typically saves enough to complete a few miles at a time – with five miles planned this year.
The town’s short-term capital plans, which are items and projects to be purchased and completed in this fiscal year, include a rebuild of two beach crossovers, the purchase of a street vacuum and baffle box cleaner (which the town prepaid for), computer upgrades, security cameras for Ryckman Park, repairs on Ocean Park’s picnic tables, and parking lot resurfacing at Circle Park Gazebo and Ocean Park.
“Saving for our long-term capital items has been the biggest change over the past few years,” Mascaro said. “The town continues to fund these items into the future so that our budget process is more streamlined.”
Approved Property Tax Rates
INDIALANTIC
Fiscal Year 2019 Millage Rate
- 6.0698%
- 5.7743% (rolled-back* rate)
Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate
- 5.9484% (3.02% over rolled-back* rate)
MELBOURNE BEACH
Fiscal Year 2019 Millage Rate
- 4.3885%
- 4.1596% (rolled-back* rate)
Fiscal Year 2020 Millage Rate
- 4.5340% (9% over rolled-back* rate)
* The rolled-back rate would have brought in essentially the same tax revenue as 2018-19, as adjusted for increased aggregate property values.
