Port St. Lucie - Tuesday September 26, 2023: The Port St. Lucie City Council approved the new budget for the next fiscal year Monday night, along with a reduced milliage rate, which is the figure used to calculate property taxes.
It was the 8th straight year that the milliage rate has been reduced, and during Monday night's meting Councilman Anthony Bonna maintained that has resulted in tax savings. And last night he moved to approve this latest milliage reduction saying - "I would like to make a motion to pass the largest tax reduction of any of Florida’s 20 largest.”
Earlier however, Deborah Swanson, a local business owner and homeowner, told the Council she didn’t see it that way, because property taxes for most are going up. This latest milliage rate reduction is "a paltry 0.025%. That’s not enough," she said.
Swanson was the only city resident to show up at this second public hearing on the budget that began with a detailed presentation from Budget Director Caroline Sturgis who explained that it’s the assessed value, which the city doesn’t control, that is causing the property tax increases.
“Although the milliage rate is a reduction, the property value has increased," said Sturgis. "The increase in value is a major driving in the increase in taxes.” Sturgis said the Council’s milliage rate reductions have reduced the amount of tax homeowners otherwise would have had to pay.
“If we compound the savings a property owner has realized over the past eight years," said Sturgis, "the cumulative milliage reduction results in an average total savings of $245.”
Bonna went on to point out that “school taxes have grown, county taxes have grown," but since 2020 he said, the City's portion of the annual tax bill has decreased. He said that of the 20 largest cities in Florida, there are only seven reducing taxes this year, and Port St. Lucie is among them. And of those seven cities "our point-1 mill reduction is the largest," said Bonna. "There’s nobody that’s doing more than the City of Port St. Lucie to give relief to tax payers," he said.
The Council unanimously approved the ordinance adopting the ad valorem milliage rate. They also adopted the City budget for the next fiscal year. It amounts to $709.3 million, a 22 million dollar reduction from the current year's budget, due mainly to a reduction in capital spending, said Sturgis.
The budget however provides funds to hire 82 new city employees to meet the extra demand resulting from the city's surging growth in population, said Sturgis. That includes sufficient funding to hire 26 new police officers.
READ the City of Port St. Lucie's news release on the budget in full below:
PSL City Council approves budget, lowest property tax rate in over a decade
Port St. Lucie - Port St. Lucie City Council, Monday, Sept. 25, approved the Fiscal Year 2023-24 city budget with the lowest tax rate in over a decade as part of its 2024 budget. The approved budget totals $709 million for the City’s operating and capital funds.
This is the 8th year in a row that the Port St. Lucie City Council decreased the property tax (millage) rate, the lowest millage rate since FY 2009/2010 while improving services. The approved budget received final, unanimous approval from the City Council. Port St. Lucie has the third lowest municipal property tax rate, compared to the top 20 largest cities in Florida.
“I’m extremely proud of the work that our staff and City Council have done this year,” said Mayor Shannon Martin. “Being fiscally responsible with taxpayer’s dollars is a top priority for our entire city team as we balance the needs and demands of our growing community. We continue to meet our goals by lowering our tax rate and reducing city debt while maintaining the high level of services that our residents deserve.”
The millage rate is the rate of tax per $1,000 of taxable property value. The adopted overall total tax rate for the City is 5.2000 mils for FY 2023-24. The City of PSL only makes up 22% of the total tax bill, while 78% of the total tax bill is paid to other taxing authorities.
The City's property rate went down, but property taxes for many may still increase because of rising property values. The City Council only controls the tax rate, not property values. The property value is assessed annually by the Saint Lucie County Property Appraiser.
The budget prioritizes public safety, roadway infrastructure, and parks and recreation to address the City's growing needs and prepare to meet the needs of the City’s future. These priorities are based on residents’ feedback from the National Community Survey, the #IamPSL Citizen Summit, and many public workshops that are held on an annual basis.
To find the City Manager’s full approved budget and budget-in-brief visit www.cityofpsl.com/budget.
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.