Nobody in Brevard County is going to pay more than $6.04 per $1,000 of taxable property value to support county services in the budget year that starts Oct.1.
The County Commission set that maximum tax rate in its July 24 meeting, sending that key figure to Property Appraiser Dana Blickley for the tax-rate notices she’ll mail to property owners this month.
But nobody will actually pay the $6.04 rate, county Budget Director Jill Hayes said last week. It’s called the aggregate rate, an average of the proposed rates for all 25 of the county’s various taxing units for recreation, mosquito control, law enforcement or other services.
Commissioners can set a final rate less than the maximum in their public hearings in September, Hayes said. But they can’t go more than the maximum without advertising such a proposal, she said.
Florida’s county government budget officials calculate their aggregate rate to determine whether they need to advertise their separate proposed rates as a tax increase.
And in Brevard’s case, County Manager Frank Abbate doesn’t have to do that. The proposed $6.04 aggregate rate, when applied to the county’s new taxable property value of $37.7 billion, is expected to yield $240 million, about what the current rate brought in from last year’s $34.6 billion value. But the proposed rate will also be applied to $582.7 million in new construction.
So with new construction, the proposed rate is 4.61 percent less than the current rate of $6.33, which county budgeters had calculated last fall for the current year.
Meanwhile, Abbate is proposing a spending plan of $1.29 billion for the next fiscal year, a 10.25 percent increase from the current $1.17 billion budget.
County Commission Chairwoman Rita Pritchett of Titusville said the increases in county property values and revenue show Brevard’s economy is recovering from the Great Recession of about 10 years ago.
“And a lot of that has to do with tourism,” she said. “If that continues, we’ll see even lower property tax rates.”
Taxpayers can review Abbate’s full recommended budget on the Internet at www.brevardfl.gov/Budget/Budgets/ProposedBudget. Those seeking further information can ask Abbate and the County Commission during either of two public hearings, at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11 or the same time Sept. 25. The second hearing will include the final approval of the budget.