SEBASTIAN — Most property owners in the City of Sebastian can expect to pay less taxes to the city than they paid last year. The Sebastian City Council tentatively approved the same tax rate it levied last year and its budget Monday evening.
Along with the millage rate, the Sebastian City Council also tentatively approved its $19.88 million budget, a 10 percent reduction from the year before.
Both the millage rate and budget will have a second and final public hearing at the Sept. 28 City Council meeting.
City Manager Al Minner has recommended the City Council approve a millage rate of 3.3041 – last year’s rate – and explained that with an 11 percent drop in property values, most residents can expect the Sebastian portion of their tax bill to go down.
Sebastian resident Julia Titus implored the Sebastian City Council to do more to help residents with their taxes.
“It’s getting hard for me,” Titus said of being able to pay her taxes on her fixed income, explaining that it is becoming a choice between eating and paying taxes.
“The economy is killing, especially us seniors,” she said.
Titus said many residents are leaving their homes behind because they can’t afford their mortgage and their taxes.
“We can’t let them run away,” she said. “And they’re running away.”
Vice Mayor Don Wright told Titus and the audience that the City of Sebastian has limited control over residents’ tax bills – only the city’s line item.
Residents also pay taxes to the School District, Indian River County, and other government agencies.
Wright added that because property values in the city have declined by about 11 percent, those who paid $496 in city taxes last year can expect to pay about $419.
“Not everyone falls into that model,” he said.
Though the Sebastian City Council appears ready to keep the tax rate the same as last year, looking long-term, the rate could be increased.
Minner told the council that the city expects property values to slide another 6 percent next year and would recommend holding the tax rate the same. Doing so would again mean lower property taxes paid to the city.
After that, though, Minner projects asking the council to adopt the “roll back” rate – the rate that will bring in the same amount of revenue as the year before. He would expect to make that request for a couple years until such time that the property values in the city begin to go up.
