FELLSMERE — The people of the City of Fellsmere can expect more of that same financial solidarity the city provided in 2011 for the 2012 fiscal year. Property owners in Fellsmere can expect to pay less in taxes this coming year and still receive the same services from the city, Fellsmere officials said Thursday evening.
“We’re bringing you a balanced budget with no cuts to services,” City Manager Jason Nunemaker said when gave his proposal for balanced budget of just over $8.4 million to the Fellsmere City Council.
This is down from the $8.9 million budget plan from a year ago.
“This is the fourth year in a row we’ve had no salary increases, and when we don’t do salary increases, that pretty much holds true across the board,” Nunemaker said. “If (a new hire) comes off their probation, there’s of course going to be a promotion. That’s pretty much the only way someone is going to get a pay increase.”
The millage rate Nunemaker recommended was 5.2455, slightly less than that which would bring in the same amount of tax revenue from the year before.
The proposed millage rate will net the City $18,000 less than it did in 2011. This is an improvement of the $112,620 it was projected to lose at this time a year ago.
“Historically for the city, this is lower than it has experienced in the past,” Nunemaker said.
To provide some perspective, the millage rate soared to the 10-range in the early-to-mid-1990’s.
Taxable property values have decreased about $19.2 million, or almost 17 percent over the prior year’s final taxable values. The decline is the largest decrease Fellsmere has ever experienced.
Being able to keep all existing City staff and services again this year was a big victory in Indian River County’s current economic climate, where there is an unemployment rate of over 12 percent during what may likely be considered a double-dip recession.
“I think we’ve rearranged the services as much as we can – we’ll keep an eye on it,” Nunemaker said. “We’re doing a 3 percent decrease in the city’s contribution to the 401K and 457 deferred compensation plan. This is a blessing, because even though it is a reduction of investing into the employees future savings, the ability to do this allows us to keep our staff on board. I would rather do that than lay off staff and see a reduction in our services.”
The 2012 budget includes no new employment positions, with the continued elimination of recreation staff carried over from 2010. The city encourages the establishment of not for profit leagues which can fill that void.
Inspite of budget constraints and a salary freeze, all of the departments have engaged in additional training and credentialing.
“Across the board, we’re striving to increase our professionalism and we hope that results in us better serving our city,” Nunemaker said. “It certainly reflects well on our reputation, I think.”