INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County School approved nearly the same tax rate as last year’s and gave preliminary approval to the district’s budget, without input from the public.
Though the public hearings had been advertised, one person attended from the general public and chose not to speak. The only others in attendance were a pair of reporters and School District staff.
The School Board set the district’s portion of the property tax bill at 8.244 mills, down from last year’s 8.250 and 4.25 percent less than it could have set to bring in the same revenue as last year.
A property owner with a $200,000 home and a $25,000 homestead exemption would have paid $1,443.75 under last year’s taxes, according to Assistant Superintendent of Finance Carter Morrison.
Assuming no decrease in property value, that same homeowner would pay $1,442.70 this year.
However, property values have continued to decline – by a little more than 6 percent, according to Morrison.
Given the drop in property values, the homeowner could expect to pay nearly $106 less this year to the School District.
The School Board unanimously approved the proposed millage rate 4-0 without discussion. Board Chair Matt McCain was absent.
The School Board also unanimously approved the tentative budget and set the final public hearing for Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.
The upcoming budget is about $488,000 more than last year, an increase of about 0.15 percent, Morrison told the School Board.
The budget for this upcoming year is nearly $307.5 million.
“I want to congratulate all of you,” said Vice Chair Carol Johnson. “This has been probably one of the most difficult but also the most transparent issues we have dealt with on this board considering the number of public hearings, workshops and our opportunities this evening as we move forward with the adoption of our budget.”
She added the budget is not as good as the board would like for it to be.
“But I think we have been very prudent in our decision-making,” Johnson said.