The property tax rate in Zephyrhills won’t increase this year.
The Zephyrhills city council voted unanimously to set the tentative millage rate at 6.35 mills, the same figure set for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
Under state law, now that the millage rate has been set, the council has the option to reduce it prior to the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, but cannot increase it.
(Courtesy of City of Zephyrhills)
City records show that maintaining a rate of 6.35 mills will generate about $3.71 million in property taxes, an increase of nearly $84,000 over last year. The figures are based on the proposed total city property value of about $622 million.
Councilman Lance Smith was adamant about not increasing the property tax rates, noting the city already has accumulated about $6.3 million in unallocated reserves.
“I know sometimes when we raise it, it doesn’t seem to come back down,” Smith said about the city’s millage rates.
Councilman Charles Proctor was in favor of setting a higher tentative millage rate until more “exact numbers” for the city’s draft budget become available.
“If we find out that we’re going to need more, we can’t go back and set it higher,” Proctor said. “I would personally rather set it higher…and if everything’s good, go back. …I understand about the reserves…but, it’s nice to have something for a rainy day.”
The councilman added that increasing the tentative property tax rate may become beneficial should a city emergency or natural disaster, such as a hurricane, arise.
“I’m not a doom and gloomer by any means, but if we have a bad storm or something like that, we may need that (reserve) money, and I’d much rather have it when we really need it than to not have enough to cover what we need,” Proctor said.
Council Vice President Alan Knight said he was comfortable setting the tentative rate at 6.35 mills, based on figures presented by Steven Spina, the city manager and Brian Williams, the city’s finance director.
In the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the tax rate was 6.1415 mills. Last year, the council opted to raise the rate to 6.35 mills to “accommodate operational improvements.”
The council also approved a motion to enter into a contract with Burton & Associates to conduct a financial sustainability modeling study for the city.
The report will analyze the city’s general fund and provide a 10-year financial forecast to help city officials unearth “different avenues of revenue enhancements,” beginning in fiscal year 2018.
The city manager said the sustainability model is ultimately designed “to make the city more financially secure in the future.”
“We think this would be a very viable opportunity for us to look at…how we spend money and help us with some new revenue sources,” Spina said. “It gives us an idea of how our reserves are kept and protected, and we might use it to look at debt and bond processes.”
The cost of the study is about $36,000, but the city plans to negotiate with Burton & Associates for a lower fee.
“I think the study is needed, but I think we should negotiate with them a little bit more,” Knight said.
The consulting firm performed a similar study for the city of Cocoa for about $28,000 in 2014.
Published August 3, 2016
