Town Council hosts informative Tax Day
Representatives from five taxing authorities on Fort Myers Beach and Lee County volunteered their time to take part in Tax Day 2010 at Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, Lee County School District Board member Dr. Jane Kuckel, FMB Fire Control District Chairperson Carol Morris, FMB Library District Library Director Dr. Leroy Hommerding and Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Terry Stewart gave 10-15 minute presentations on their respective taxing districts. FMB Mayor Larry Kiker was the Master of Ceremonies for the event.
Stewart began the workshop by giving an explanation of a Truth in Millage (TRIM) Notice, offering assistance in reading the notice, providing understanding on how tax dollars are divided and interpreting the information involved in the document. Each of the five taxing authorities are authorized to collect property taxes within their respective districts on the Beach and beyond.
“The millage rate is a multiplier. It is a number that is used in the calculation of taxes that each taxing authority can use to get the appropriate amount of revenue necessary to be able to accomplish the budgetary requirements,” said Stewart. “The simple calculation involves dividing 1,000 into the taxable (accessed) value then multiply your millage rate by that number, and it tells you what your tax rate is going to be.”
Stewart also explained taxing issues such as exemptions, roll back rates, proposed budget changes and recapture tax rates. Individual tax bills are expected to be mailed out in November.
Here is a capsule look at each representative’s presentations:
n Judah – The Beach’s commissioner referred to the county’s expenditures for an increase in population over the past few years as an “old-fashion approach.” The BOCC is expected to keep it millage rate at 3.6 mils.
“Instead of issuing bonds and incurring more debt, the Board of County Commissioners felt that during the boom times, it was really incumbent to build up a healthy reserve but strike a balance in providing millage reduction also. We have taken a balanced approach to substantially reduce expenses and the budget, but not to degrade the critical and essential levels of service to our community.”
“Lee County Government is accountable for only a third of what you see on your tax bill. And of that third, 55 percent goes to constitutional officers such as property appraisers, clerk of courts, tax collectors and Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The other 45 percent goes to county government like operational parks, maintenance management of our roads, human services and public safety. Lee County is struggling with about a $71 million deficit and, what we are best able to accomplish at this time, is to reduce the budget some $30 million. Keep in mind we have experienced a $143 million decline in revenue because of the decreased accessed value in property.”
“We are going to cut, reduce and reprogram whatever we can. This will be the third year in a row without salary increases for county employees. On top of that, we also are going to be implementing an increase in premium insurance payments and co-payments equating to another $4 1/2 million coming off the budget. We have eliminated more than 400 positions in the past three years. If we eliminate more employees, we’ll have to eliminate programs.
“The fundamentals are strong in this county. I have great heart and confidence and hope that we are going to come out of this economic situation we are in and be stronger than ever.”
n Kuckel – The Lee County School District has been designated as an “A” district by the state for two years running. The combined local and state public school millage rate equates to 7.508 mils for the current fiscal year and a proposed 8.015 mils for the upcoming fiscal year.
“It’s a big operation. There are two parts to our budget. One is the operating money and the other is the capital fund. Generally, you cannot mix capital fund into the operating budget. All the money collecting for the operating budget for the school district goes to Tallahassee which redistributes those monies back to every school district on an equal first student basis. I fully support that every student should have an equal dollar amount behind them. So, officials at Tallahassee set the dollar amount per student, then tells us what millage rate we need to impose to collect the amount of money that will generate state-wide that dollar amount per student.”
“Between 2002-08, the millage rate actually decreased each year as the property values went up. Because we collected more money from the property value, we imposed less of a millage rate. As the property values go down and we need to collect enough money needed to finance the schools, the millage rate has gone up. If we don’t approve (the 8.015 mils) as a school district, then we don’t receive our funding.
“We also collect 2.0 mils for our capital budget. In the past, 1.0 mil has been generally designated for debt retirement. Recently, we have grown 3,000 to 5,000 students per year. Over the past five years, we have built 20 schools and 17 remodels or build-outs to the school we already have. We are planning on building probably one school building a year for the next five years. We are rated the top international baccalaureate program in North America.”
n Morris – The FMB Fire Control District encompasses the Beach, San Carlos Island and the mainland up to Pine Ridge Road. The FMB Board of Fire Commissioners recently approved a millage rate of 2.5800 mils for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
“Of the 17 districts in the county, only two of those districts provide both fire service and emergency medical service. One is Lehigh Acres and the other is Fort Myers Beach. What that means is that you do contribute for EMS service in your tax bill. You are also contributing to the county for the county EMS service which will back us up in heavy season or times of emergency.”
“The ambulance service that we provide, if it is coming out of Fort Myers Beach and not Lee County, is a bill that comes from us and revenue that hopefully comes back to us which helps with our budget to support you. The approved millage rate is slightly less than the roll back rate of 2.5823. What that says is we will collect just slightly less revenue than we did last year.”
“In the past couple of years, we have made an attempt to cut back the budget. But, you can’t cut back too drastically when you find out that 78 percent of that budget is personnel services. The only way we can cut that budget severely is by maybe making very different changes in the way we provide our service. These are things we will be looking at over the next year. We don’t want to cut your service because I think you are all very proud of the service we do provide. We have some of the lowest response times. But, I think our job is to look at ways to give you the service support and still do things in a better and smarter way.”
n Hommerding – The FMB Library District, which involves Fort Myers Beach, San Carlos Island and all of the developments up to Pine Ridge Road, is proposing a millage rate of 0.5989 mils. The Beach library has 51 volunteers who assist in activities. Go to www.newbeachlibrary.com for information on the proposed addition to the current library.
“We have been actively serving the community since 1955. We started out as one-room facility, expanded in 1957 to a three-room facility and broke ground for a one-story facility at the current site in 1960. By 1990, the library needed a much larger building to solve its chronic space shortage, and that need was addressed with the current 1994 building. In the past 10 years, the library has steadily increased programs to meet the needs of Beach residents and visitors (including 118 conference room activities this past year).
“We purchased land adjoining our existing building in 2002, and the challenge of construction is now upon us. Adding to our existing library building will not only allow us to house our expanding collection, it will open the door to expanding resources and activities such as a public meeting place, gallery and performance space, specific areas for youth, a computer lab and courtyards for children and adults. Libraries are not the quiet halls of silence that they were in the 1950s and 60s. This means more segments of the population are coming in and want to do much more. I think we are capable of doing much more.”
“In the past seven years we have kept in mind the possibility of the upcoming construction, so we have tried to save in every possible way. We are really gratified by the number of people who make donations.”
n Stewart – The Town of Fort Myers Beach set its millage rate at 0.9144 mils. From 2007 to 2010, the final taxable value has gone from $3,910,189,400 to $2,653,777,580 – a $1,256,411,820 difference. The Beach permanent population is 6,973 people, but serves a greater daily population due to being a tourist-based community.
“(From 2007 to 2010) we have had almost a third loss in our total taxable value in a period of three years. That’s quite a bit of revenue to lose. As an amount of the total budget, about 41 percent of the total revenue that we gain come from ad valorem taxes. When you start edging into the 50-60 percent range as part of your total fund budget, you have a heavy significant reliance on that. If anything goes wrong in the economy and your property values go down, then you’ll be hit pretty hard. Our community in relation to others, even though we’ve lost value, has held its value reasonably well in the economy that we’re in. And, because we are a beach front community, we have all of the indicators that will enable us to recover earlier and a little more quickly, perhaps, than other communities might.”
“The Town of Fort Myers Beach does not have a franchise fee or a public service tax (up to 10 percent amount that can be charged on any utility other than sewer service). Even without those revenues, your property taxes still only provide 41 percent of your total cost of operating the Town of Fort Myers Beach. We do have to be concerned about what is going on with the economy, but we do have a solid reserve amount.”
“We’re a small entity. I see this town as a very solid entity, and I believe we are doing the things that are necessary to stay financially sound and to be careful on how we guard, expend and use your money.”
If you are interested in learning more details on Tax Day 2010 and watching the Q&A segment of the meeting, the Sept. 21 meeting will be rebroadcasted on Comcast Channel 98 at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29.