Property owners in unincorporated Monroe County who do not have a homestead property tax exemption may experience a nearly 9% increase in their property taxes for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
The Monroe County government is proposing to increase its overall budget from its current roughly $667 million to about $715 million, according to Monroe County Budget and Finance Director Tina Boan. Former County Administrator Roman Gastesi, who is retired but volunteering with the county, reminded the Monroe County Commission on Tuesday, July 16, when it met during a budget hearing that the $715 million will drop to $592 million in the next several years once the county pays for three new Trauma Star helicopters, the new terminal at Key West International Airport, a new fire station and an emergency operations center in Marathon.
Currently, roughly 80% of the homes in the Florida Keys do not have homestead exemptions, according to county officials.
The proposed tax increase comes as the overall property values throughout Monroe County increased from $41.8 billion last year to $46.2 billion this year, according to Boan’s budget presentation. Property values have doubled in the past eight years.
County commissioners met Tuesday morning to discuss the proposed $715.7 million budget and the proposed tax rate, which will cost non-homesteaded property owners roughly $310 per $100,000 of assessed property value. The budget includes the Board of County Commissioners, the constitutional officers, which include the Sheriff, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, and Clerk of Court, and other appropriations for the Tourist Development Council, capital projects, and reserves. Each entity has its own independent budget within the total budget.
Acting Monroe County Administrator Kevin Wilson and Boan presented the tentative budget with fiscal year 2024-25 estimates of residential real estate trends, taxable property values, sales taxes and state-shared revenues, along with fund balance, reserves and general fund.
“While there is an increase of $48.4 million in this year’s budget, it is important to point out that the Board of County Commissioners’ operating budget increase supported by property taxes is less than 5%,” Wilson said in a prepared statement following the meeting. “The majority of the other budget increases are paid primarily by other funding sources and not out of your property taxes.”
With the proposed budget and county-wide average property values, a homesteaded residential property owner with an average appraised taxable value of $500,777.90 will see a $2.54 monthly increase in their property tax for the upcoming fiscal year with the tentative budget, according to Boan’s presentation.
Non-homesteaded residential properties, with an average assessed taxable value of $922,891.20, comprise 59% of the taxable value. Non-homesteaded properties would see a $17 per month increase. Commercial property and vacant land represent 17% and 4% of taxable value, respectively, according to Boan.
Of the total budget, $156 million is from property taxes, 70.8% of the property tax funds public safety, which include law enforcement, fire rescue, detention centers, Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Florida Department of Health local officed, and 22.2% funds the State Attorney’s Office, Supervisor of Elections and other constitutional officers’ operating costs.
“The total $1,348.54 per year a homesteaded property owner would pay in property taxes with a house that has an average taxable value of $500,000 funds everything it takes to run this county from personnel, police, fire rescue, electric in county buildings, parks and beach improvements, children, senior and Veterans services, trash collection and more,” Wilson said. “The rest of the budget is funded by sales tax, state -hared revenues, license and permit fees, fines and forfeitures, and service charges.”
The county’s overall budget reflects continued investment in roads and bridges, resilience adaptation, facilities and public safety, including funding for the three new Trauma Star helicopters, spread across several years, operational costs of the new Emergency Operations Center, funding for 24 firefighters who have been paid through a Safer Grant for the past three years, a new Sugarloaf Fire Station, and a replacement fire truck, ambulance and the addition of two new fire rescue boats, according to the county.
Sixteen notable capital projects with $110 million in total costs have $66 million in grant funding to fund local projects and shows a balanced approach to fostering resilience in Monroe County, according to the county.
The budget also includes raising the residential trash rate by 20%, which is 10% more than staff recommended, for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
At its May meeting, the commissioners chose the highest rate proposed by Waste Management, but asked its solid waste staff to attempt to negotiate that rate down by the time the county sets its property tax rates later this year. Monore County Solid Waste Director Cheryl Sullivan proposed the tentative residential rate be increased by 10%, or $45.71 per year, going from $457 a year to $502.86 per household/unit.
The budget also provides more than $2.2 million in funding for 30 community-based, non-profit organizations. Twelve full-time vacant staff positions were eliminated from the budget, a savings of $1.3 million, according to Boan.
The first final public hearing of the adoption of the tentative budget and property tax rate will be Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 5:05 p.m. at the Harvey Government Center in Key West.
The final public hearing will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 5:05 p.m. at the Murray E. Nelson Government Center in Key Largo.
For information about the budgeting process, visit monroecounty-fl.gov/budget.
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