Tuesday, June 22, 2010

“Property tax cap fails to gain support” plus 3 more

“Property tax cap fails to gain support” plus 3 more

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Property tax cap fails to gain support

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 10:52 PM PDT

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Property tax relief? County yes, city no ~~ City plans to spend 4.3% more

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 07:28 AM PDT

Property tax relief? County yes, city no ~~ City plans to spend 4.3% more

By Angela Daughtry, News-Leader

Fernandina Beach Commissioners have been asked to raise the property tax rate to make up for declining property values in the city. That would allow the city to increase wages for some employees, boost employee pension contributions and keep most programs and services intact.

City Manager Michael Czymbor's draft budget calls for a 4.3 percent increase in general fund spending, to $17.1 million. Projected revenues would rise by 2.9 percent, mostly due to increased money from licenses and permits, sales, use and fuel taxes and user fees.

City commissioners held a brief budget workshop Monday to begin thinking about a daunting task: where to trim expenses in the city budget for 2010-11.

Czymbor suggested commissioners begin thinking about which services and programs are most important to the community; the hard part, he said, will be keeping necessary services within a sustainable budget.

Czymbor informed commissioners that the city faces an estimated 11 percent decline in property values this year. That is on top of a 6.42 percent decrease in property values last year. The city increased the property tax rate last year to make up the difference.

Czymbor said his proposed budget assumes commissioners will adopt a "rollback" of the millage rate so the city can collect the same revenue from property taxes it collected last year. "The rollback rate is going to be a main topic of conversation," he said.

The "rollback" is that property tax rate which allows the city to collect the same amount of revenue even though property values have changed. The rollback is now more properly described as a "roll up" rate because it increases the property tax rate to keep revenues the same when property values decline.

Nassau County Property Appraiser Tammy Stiles informed the city this month that the estimated taxable value of property within the city is $1.65 billion, continuing a decline in the past two years owing to the poor economy.

City Finance Director Patti Clifford showed commissioners Monday a draft of the upcoming budget that estimated $14 million in revenues and $17 million in expenditures. She anticipated an additional $2 million in transfers from enterprise and utility funds plus more than $5 million unspent this year and carried forward to the next.

The draft budget includes an increase in pension costs for city employees of $171,680, Czymbor said. Increases in workers' compensation and wage hikes for police, firefighters and exempt employees are also anticipated.

A chart provided by the city projects a decrease of nine full-time city employees, but Commissioner Arlene Filkoff noted six of those employees moved over to Westrec when the management company took over the city marina. Per Westrec's contract, the city continues to pay those salaries.

The city may pay higher utility rates next year as it foresees a 10 to 12 percent increase in Florida Public Utility rates beginning in January.

Czymbor also noted that no funding was set aside for non-profit groups, except for a building fund for the Council on Aging and an appropriation of $60,000 to the county for a new roof on the Fernandina Beach branch library.

The draft budget does not call for significant program cuts.

"You must ask the question, are these services and programs the city funds necessary, critical and vital?" Czymbor told commissioners. "You will have to make a commitment as to whether you want those services (and decide) what services will not be maintained and funded."

"If yes, are we willing to raise the necessary resources (taxes and fees) to continue to support the services and programs?" he asked in a PowerPoint presentation.

"If no, what services and programs are you no longer willing to fund? What criteria will be utilized to determine what services and programs will not be maintained and funded?"

Filkoff said commissioners should also consider whether some services could be done differently so they don't cost as much. She said she would like to start off budget discussions "from a planning perspective" before starting to make cuts.

"We have to start with something broader," Filkoff said. "We should talk about what we want to be rather than what we want to cut."

Another budget workshop has tentatively been scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 204 Ash St. Public hearings for the budget will be scheduled in September before it takes effect Oct. 1.

adaughtry@fbnewsleader.com

Story created Jun 21, 2010 - 13:20:36 PDT.



NJ Gov.'s Property Tax Cap Plan Stalled

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 08:13 AM PDT

Newark's Democratic mayor may be a fan of Gov. Chris Christie's plan to cap property tax increases through a constitutional amendment, but to get it on the ballot, the Republican governor will need support from more than Democratic mayors.

He'll need support from Democratic legislators, as well, something he didn't have Monday.

Assembly Democrats twice refused to take action on motions offered by Republicans to move the governor's constitutional cap out of committee.

Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, have offered their own versions of bills to enact a lower cap on annual property tax increases.

The difference between the Republican governor's plan and that of Democratic lawmakers centers around who can override the cap, if needed.

Christie's proposed constitutional amendment would ban towns from raising property taxes by more than 2.5 percent without voter approval, while plans put forth by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assemblyman Paul Moriarty would allow for automatic exclusions to the cap, taking into account the cost of things like inflation and health care premiums.

"A hard cap would just destroy local governments and make it impossible to provide public safety, which then the state will be forced to fund," Sweeney said. "This is a very attainable goal without going to the constitution, where if we make a mistake, we can never correct the problem."

Sweeney, D-West Deptford, is proposing a 2.9 percent cap, while Moriarty, D-Turnersville, wants a 2.5 percent cap.

New Jersey already has a property tax cap. In 2007, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine managed to get a 4 percent cap through the Legislature, but exceptions included increases in pension payments and health care costs and many towns found ways to exceed the cap.

"We put in a cap. It's working. Now let's lower it," said Moriarty, who points to the fact that the average increase in property taxes last year was 3.3 percent, as compared to 7 percent the year before.

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Vermilion County property tax bills will be sent on Friday

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 04:07 AM PDT

DANVILLE – The bad news: Property tax bills go out Friday.

The good news: Vermilion County property owners, collectively, will pay just slightly more than they did last year.

Vermilion County Treasurer Sue Stine said 51,447 property tax bills will be mailed Friday, and her office will be collecting in coming weeks $78,875,000 in property tax revenue, $400,000 more than last year.

Stine said that's a small increase – 0.5 percent – and likely not only reflects that local taxing bodies are being more conservative in what they ask for in tax revenue but also a decline in property values due to the impact of the troubled housing market.

"The tax cycle runs in three-year increments, and it takes awhile for reduced values to show up," she said.

Champaign County property tax bills were mailed out in April, and the overall increase there was the second-lowest in more than 30 years, according to Champaign County Treasurer Dan Welch. The overall tax bill there is $274 million, an increase of $4.1 million or 1.52 percent.

Vermilion County property taxpayers will have about four weeks to make their first property tax installment and about six weeks for the second.

The first installment will be due July 26, and the second due by Sept. 3.

And Stine would like to see the majority, if not all, of those property tax bills paid in ways other than in person at her office at the Vermilion County Courthouse Annex, 6 N. Vermilion St., Danville.

Stine encourages taxpayers to take advantage of the ability to pay their tax bills at any Vermilion County bank, by mail, online or even over the phone with a credit card.

She anticipates some confusion or frustration for those who still try to pay in person, because the only public entrance to the courthouse annex was moved to the north side of the building. There's no parking on the north side of the building except along North Vermilion Street, but the only handicapped parking is still on the south side of the annex.

And the city of Danville's municipal parking lot renovation project next door has cut off some parking spaces and cut off the most direct pedestrian route from the downtown parking garage to the annex.

"Please pay at the bank," Stine said.

There are three banks, she said, within walking distance of the annex, and every year there are taxpayers who go to those banks, withdraw the money, walk it across the street to her office, pay their bills, and the treasurer's office takes it right back to the bank.

"We have accounts at all the banks in the county," Stine said. "You can do it all at once."

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