VERO BEACH — Whether or not property taxes go up for Vero Beach residents will depend upon citizens’ demand for services and some factors out of the city’s control.
During its fifth day of hammering out a preliminary budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year the Vero Beach City Council voted 3-1 Wednesday to set a maximum tax rate of 2.6668 mils or $2.66 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. If that rate holds, it would mean a 73-cent hike over the current rate of 1.93 mills.
The council can go lower than that rate, but it cannot exceed it as budget talks continue into mid-September.
New City Manager Jim O’Connor and new Finance Director Cynthia Lawson took the lead at the budget wrap-up hearing, with Lawson clearing up a quandary over the voting requirements and also estimating that the increase in the tax rate would net $1.3 million for the general fund.
The budget, as presented over the past couple of weeks, calls for the tax rate to be set at the “rollback rate” of 2.03 mils, but contained in that plan are sharp cuts in public safety and recreation which have stirred a high level of interest from taxpayers.
Recreation programs are set to take a $75,000 reduction and the Vero Beach Police Department is set to slice a half million dollars in personnel expenses. A compromise has been reached that would avoid police layoffs, but supervisory officers would be spread out to cover shortages in various divisions of the department.
Councilman Brian Heady, Councilwoman Tracy Carroll and Vice Mayor Pilar Turner voted for the safety valve of expanding the tax rate to give citizens a chance to decide whether they want higher taxes or reduced services.
Heady said after the meeting that he’s not only concerned about the new staffers discovering “surprises” in the budget, but also about large financial hits such as a possible $3.6 million in money granted the city by the Federal Emergency Management Agency which may need to be paid back to FEMA.
“There are too many big-ticket items hanging out there,” Heady said.
Combined with the FEMA matter, the city’s electric utility is operating on a very thin margin with unknown costs to come next year related to consultant and legal fees for proposed the sale to Florida Power and Light. If the utility is unable to provide the budgeted $5.76 million in transfers to the general fund, that money will need to come from property taxes.
“I don’t want to do anything that will let us off the hook of being disciplined,” said Mayor Jay Kramer voted against the measure.
Councilman Craig Fletcher did not vote as he was absent Wednesday.
Vice Mayor Turner said she recognized the budget was very tight and that “everybody has pushed the envelope” to make the required cuts.
The budget requires two public hearings, the first of which has been set for 5:01 p.m. Sept. 8 and the second for 6 p.m. Sept. 20.