Port St. Lucie - Friday July 22, 2022: In the next fiscal year Port St. Lucie residents will have a lower city property tax rate, and a one-time credit on their solid waste costs, with no increase on their stormwater assessments.
Those are some of the highlights from the PSL City Council’s budget workshop last week.
“The City Council and staff accomplished a great deal on behalf of our residents during this year’s budget workshop,” Mayor Shannon Martin said. “I am proud that the Council is fulfilling our promise to continue reducing the City’s tax rate. This budget positions our City to have the resources necessary to tackle our growth today and into the future while providing tax relief for citizens.”
The Council tentatively approved a tax rate (millage) reduction, even lower than originally proposed for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins October 1. This will be the seventh year in a row the City’s tax rate will decrease.
The City Council will officially adopt the budget following two public hearings on Sept. 12 and Sept. 26.
The millage rate is the rate of tax per $1,000 of taxable property value. The City Council approved a total rate of 5.3000 for the 22-23 fiscal year. This year’s rate was 5.600; therefore, the total rate reduction is 0.3000 mills, or $0.30 for every $1,000 of assessed taxable property value.
The budget recommends a total of $731,023,223 for all funds for the fiscal year. Overall, the budget continues Port St. Lucie’s fiscally sound and conservative approach to managing taxpayer dollars as the City exceeds a population of 217,523 residents.
In addition to allocating funding to support a tax rate decrease, City Council also approved funding a one-time credit on the upcoming solid waste assessment. Homeowners who experienced Waste Pro’s poor service will receive a one-time solid waste credit of $36.76, which equates to about six weeks of solid waste service.
When the solid waste contract was awarded to the City’s new hauler, FCC Environmental Services Florida, the original proposed annual rate was $423.36. After further budget review, the City Manager was able to propose a reduced rate of $416.21. The one-time credit would be effective during FY 22-23 and reduce the proposed annual assessment of $416.21 to $379.45. The new yearly solid waste assessment fee will support the new automated solid waste hauler that should bring consistent and reliable service back to the City.
In another highlight from this week’s workshop, the City Council also declined to increase homeowners’ stormwater assessments this fiscal year.
The proposed budget supports the City’s strategic goal to be a high-performing government organization and its initiative to reduce the City’s tax rate while ensuring a balanced budget that still provides excellent service for City residents.
A full recording of the City Council’s budget workshop will be available to view on demand at https://psl.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx beginning early next week.
The City of Port St. Lucie is proud to be a hometown where people live, learn, work and play and celebrate all of life’s opportunities. With 217,523 residents, Port St. Lucie is Florida’s seventh largest city by population (South Florida’s third largest city). The City occupies an area of 120 square miles in St. Lucie County on Florida’s east coast, about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach, halfway between Miami and Orlando. The City provides most traditional municipal services including law enforcement, water and sewer and public works. For more information, visit: www.cityofpsl.com