“Palm Beach County faces 13 percent property tax rate increase” plus 3 more |
- Palm Beach County faces 13 percent property tax rate increase
- Tax sale auction goes online
- Think tank says Christie's property tax cap would hurt N.J. education, public services
- Property tax hike may be around corner
| Palm Beach County faces 13 percent property tax rate increase Posted: 08 Jun 2010 01:34 PM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Palm Beach County property tax rates could go up for the second year in a row — this time about 13 percent — to head off a $100 million shortfall, according to the county's 2011 budget proposal released Tuesday. A sales tax increase could also be on the horizon for 2011. County Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to keep alive a proposal to ask voters in November to consider a proposed 1 percent sales tax increase for firefighter expenses. The County Commission last year increased property tax rates nearly 15 percent and made spending cuts to close this year's budget gap. But the struggling economy continues to lead to declines in property values and corresponding tax revenues. Those declines, coupled with past county government spending decisions, put the county in another budget hole. The proposed budget from County Administrator Robert Weisman anticipates $25 million in cuts from County Commission-controlled departments. It also calls for about $25 million in cuts from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's $500 million budget — the largest slice of the county's operational budget. The proposed budget plan avoids dramatic cuts to county services, such as closing parks and libraries more days each week, in favor of increasing the property tax rate to the level that generates the same income as this year. Weisman's plan also eliminates 135 vacant positions and calls for at least 14 layoffs. The county has eliminated nearly 700 positions since 2007. "This is the most difficult budget year the county has ever faced and flexibility has been severely limited," Weisman wrote in his budget proposal to the County Commission. "Further major cuts in the general county budget will have increasing impact on service delivery." County commissioners meet again June 16 to start crafting the budget plan. The commission votes on the final budget in September. On June 15, the commission holds another vote on whether to proceed with the sales tax increase referendum. County firefighters want voters to approve a 1 percent sales tax "surtax" to help pay for fire rescue costs. Backers call it a "tax swap" that would allow the money raised to reduce property tax revenue normally designated for firefighting and, as a result, lower property tax bills. Business leaders have opposed the measure, saying any increased costs would hurt efforts to help the struggling economy recover. They also question whether local governments would actually end up lowering property tax rates. Palm Beach County commissioners in September boosted property tax rates almost 15 percent to head off budget shortfalls this year. That increase pushed the county's tax rate to $4.34 per $1,000 of taxable value. For a home valued at $230,000 and eligible for a $50,000 homestead exemption, that generates about $800 in county property taxes — not including costs for schools, cities and other taxes levied on local property owners. Because of falling property values, Weisman proposes raising the property tax rate to about $4.93 per $1,000 of taxable value to generate the same tax revenue in 2011 as this year. Even with that potential tax rate increase, the county would be left with a $50 million shortfall. Weisman contends the sheriff needs to share in the budget cuts to close that deficit. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has said that if forced to trim another $25 million he will cut the popular "Drug Farm" treatment program, the Eagle Academy residential facility for teens and deputies assigned to patrolling county parks. "It is critical that the sheriff does his part to help reduce the deficit," Weisman said. "If not, the only alternatives are increased taxes, program elimination, or service-level reductions in other county programs." Andy Reid can be reached at abreid@SunSentinel.com or 561-228-5504. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Posted: 08 Jun 2010 12:54 AM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Property tax sales and public auctions are moving out of local courthouses and onto the Internet. The Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office is holding its first online tax sale auction this week. It's the fourth parish to use eBay-like technology to auction off properties on which delinquent taxes are owed. "More and more sheriffs are going to it because of the savings it offers our departments," said Capt. Edward Fremin, tax collection manager for the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. "The parishes that are doing it are seeing very positive responses from citizens, and of course on the tax collection side, it's a lot better for us." In a tax sale, properties that have delinquent taxes are put up for sale for the amount of taxes owed, plus interest and any penalties. If the original owner doesn't redeem the property within three years by repaying the unpaid taxes plus interest, full ownership is transferred to the person who bought the property at auction. The online tax sale works much the same way, except bidding is done over the Internet instead of at a courthouse. Whereas previous auctions in Iberia Parish drew about a dozen mostly local residents, online auctions can attract thousands of potential buyers from across the world. "It's certainly the wave of the future as far as tax sales go," said Bryan Barrios, CEO of Archon Information Systems, the New company managing the auction. "It epitomizes the spirit of the public auction, because there's 100 percent access, and it allows the government to pick up cutting edge technology at no cost." Orleans Parish began conducting online tax sales in 2007, borrowing a concept that had been used previously in Florida and other markets. The format spread to other Louisiana parishes after legislation passed last year allowed sheriffs to contract with outside agencies for assistance with property tax collections. Sheriffs that have used the program so far have enjoyed positive results, Barrios said. An online auction in St. Mary Parish last month generated 3,000 unique visitors from 39 states, and resulted in 98 percent of the available properties being sold. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Think tank says Christie's property tax cap would hurt N.J. education, public services Posted: 08 Jun 2010 07:53 AM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. By Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse BureauJune 08, 2010, 3:14PM
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said a similar Massachusetts law, used by Christie as a model for his proposal, indeed kept property taxes low – but at the expense of basic services, "from deteriorating roads to poorly lit streets to longer police and fire response times." The group wrote the paper in response to an analysis released last month by the right-leaning Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, which said a cap would not harm the quality of public education. Massachusetts' statewide policies and targeted school funding have kept test scores competitive, but schools also increased class sizes and cut art, music, foreign languages and athletics, the CBPP's report said. "The bottom line is that property tax caps do not change state policies in ways that can make government operate better, smarter or more efficiently, nor do they necessarily change local policies in ways that improve government," the report's author, Iris Lav, said on a conference call with reporters. "Caps can reduce property taxes, of course, but there are many better ways to do that." Massachusetts state Rep. Jay Kaufman, a Democrat and chair of the state's Committee on Revenue, painted a picture of a state falling apart, naming communities laying off dozens of cops and teachers, cutting library hours to next to nothing, . He named some "randomly selected" examples he knew about. "The city of Quincy, in its 2011 budget, is laying off 150 city employees," he said. "Every department is impacted. Police, fire, schools, DPW, social safety net, libraries, you name it." The Christie administration disagreed with the "premise and conclusions of the study," a spokesman said in a statement. "This is not about tying the hands of schools and towns to fund the services New Jerseyans need, but providing the tools to make education and government affordable again for taxpayers," the statement said. "To simply focus only on the cap and ignore the rest of the reforms is wrong and not what the governor is proposing at all." The 2.5 percent cap is the centerpiece of Christie's plan to stem the rise of property taxes, which rose on average 3.3 percent last year to a statewide average of $7,300. The proposed amendment would require a 60 percent vote by residents to raise taxes above the cap, with exceptions for debt payments and some major projects. To help municipalities deal with rising costs, Christie has also proposed changes to arbitration and civil service rules that would give towns more power over public worker unions. Lav said Christie's accompanying proposals are deficient because they largely focus on employees. "Almost the entirety of the tool kit is aimed at saying employees are the problem, and I would say that policies are the problem," she said. "The things that are in the governor's tool kit are very unlikely to solve the problem." Kaufman, the Massachusetts politician, had a more colorful take on the "tool kit." "If this is a tool, it's a chainsaw," he said. "It doesn't do what a hammer does. it doesn't do what a pair of pliers does. It just chops and cuts. I think you make much better policy with scalpels than you do with chainsaws." The Manhattan Institute analysis said Massachusetts spends 20 percent less per student while scoring about the same or better than New Jersey on national tests. The CBPP report attributed that to New Jersey spending more on special education students and educating more of them. As an alternative, Lav said the state should consolidate school districts and municipalities — one of the top complaints about New Jersey's government structure. The report warns a cap could prevent towns and school districts from consolidating and sharing services, because mergers – which could include building joint facilities – could initially be expensive. In addition, the report said the state should give property tax refunds to people based on their income, and make sure the tax relief is well publicized. Lav challenged the idea that teacher salaries drove costs up, citing a difference of under 0.4 percent between the average salary of $62,769 in Massachusetts and $63,018 in New Jersey. But she acknowledged she did not have a comparison of pensions and benefits. Christie, a freshman Republican, has been touring the state promoting the idea for the tax cap, which he wants passed as a constitutional amendment. To have it on the ballot by November, the Democratic-controlled Legislature would have to pass it with a three-fifths majority by early August. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Property tax hike may be around corner Posted: 07 Jun 2010 11:04 PM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. KINGMAN — There was some good news but mostly bad news in Monday's 2010-11 budget workshop held by the Mohave County supervisors. Mohave County Finance Director John Timko said the good news is his office presented a balanced budget to the board. The bad news is that the property tax rate may have to be raised. The county's revenue is projected at $74.4 million and its expenses also are projected at $74.4 million. The contingency fund is estimated to be $11.5 million. The property tax rate for the current 2009-10 fiscal year is $1.26 per $100 assessed value on a home. The rate is calculated after a limit of a 2 percent increase from the previous year. A state tax commission calculated Mohave County's property tax rate for the 2010-11 fiscal year at $1.46 per $100 assessed value on a home. The county saw an 11 percent decrease in property values, Timko said. Without the increase in the property tax rate, the county would face a $4.6 million shortfall, most likely resulting in eliminating 72 county employees. The county initiated a hiring freeze in 2007. Timko also asked the supervisors what each thought about raising the property tax rate but neither Supervisors Tom Sockwell of Bullhead City, Gary Watson of Kingman nor Buster Johnson of Lake Havasu City gave a hint in which direction they were leaning. The property tax rate was set at $1.33 per $100 assessed value for the 2008-09 fiscal year and for the 2007-08 fiscal year the rate was $1.53 per $100 assessed value. The year before that the rate was set at $1.67 per $100 assessed value. The rate was $1.75 per $100 assessed value for the 2005-06 fiscal year. Timko said another revenue source for the county is the state sales tax, which is projected to increase by $350,000 from the year before. About $17.65 million in state sales tax is expected for the 2010-11 fiscal year. Other sources of revenue include a vehicle license tax, which is not expected to increase. All other revenues are expected to rise by about $350,000. The only place to cut spending would be eliminating county positions. For the second year in a row, county employees will not see a pay or merit raise. The county did absorb an increase in health care costs for employees, Timko said. One unknown issue is the cost of the new jail that is being built next to the administration building and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. By mid-fiscal year, additional funding may be needed for the jail, possibly for staffing. Mohave County Manager Ron Walker again criticized Arizona legislators for not balancing the state's budget, spending its contingency fund and passing costs on to the counties. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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