INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — County Administrator Joe Baird and Finance Director Jason Brown have unveiled details of their proposed $254-million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes a 5.8 percent increase in the property tax rate.
The higher tax rate would add about $51 to the property tax bill of a homeowner with a $200,000 house covered by a homestead exemption, according to the county officials.
On the island, where the median home price is around half a million, the average tax increase would be approximately $150, except in Indian River Shores where it would be less than that because the Shores funds its own emergency services.
Baird said the bump – which would help pay for higher retirement fund contributions mandated by the state, budget increases requested by the Sheriff and other constitutional officers and four new county employees – will have to be approved by the County Commission before it can go into effect.
“I am not sure how the Commissioners are going to view it,” Baird said. “We have a policy of not using our general fund reserve to pay for ongoing expenses and that is what we are trying to get away from. We are looking long-term at what the county needs.”
Brown said that, if approved, the new millage rate would still be well below the rate at the start of the recession. The increase is projected to bring in an additional $4.6 million, including $3 million for emergency services and $1.5 million for the general fund.
The proposed budget is $38 million less than the current 2012-13 budget, which funds county operations until October. Brown said the reduction comes mainly from less money being budgeted for capital improvement outlays, due to the timing of major road projects and other infrastructure improvements.
Baird emphasized that next year’s $254-million budget is down 46 percent since fiscal year 2006-07, when the Commission approved $472 million in expenditures.
He said the county continually cut its budget and employee count during the recession, and now has 259 fewer fulltime employees than it did in fiscal 1990-91, even though the county’s population has increased by 50 percent.
New hires would include an additional building department employee to help handle what Baird estimates is a 30 to 40 percent increase in building activity this year compared to last, a utility employee to staff the new south county algae scrubber water treatment facility now under construction, and one additional road maintenance worker to keep up with the county’s expanding road network.
Baird said the county is seeing a gradual economic recovery take shape, with income from assessed taxes up 1.4 percent this year compared to last due to increasing real estate values. This is the first increase in the amount since 2007.
Tourist development tax, often called a bed tax, half-cent sales tax and building department revenues are all up by between 5 and 20 percent.
Baird and Brown will present their proposed budget to the County Commission at a public workshop scheduled for Wednesday, July 17 at 9 a.m. in the Commission Chambers at the county government center at 1801 27th Street.
