PORT CHARLOTTE — The property tax rate for Charlotte County property taxes will see a slight reduction, though the budget itself may still increase.
County Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to tentatively keep the county-wide millage rate at 6.1687 as they move toward a final budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Commissioners could change the distribution of that funding between the general fund, law enforcement and capital projects.
The total millage rate — which includes various units within the county and the Charlotte Public Safety Unit — is projected to drop from 12.2092 to 11.9309.
The reduction is largely driven by rising property values and a slight millage decrease for the county’s Public Safety Unit.
The tentative net budget, discussed by county commissioners and staff on Wednesday, is calculated to come to roughly $1.3 billion for the 2024/25 fiscal year.
The total budget for the upcoming year is calculated at $2.29 billion, but does not include reserve transfers and restoration of funding from hurricane aid reimbursement.
Despite the flat to reduced millage rate depending on area, funding collected by millage is anticipated to increase due to a 19% increase in property valuation across Charlotte County.
That translates to roughly $5 billion additional taxable value, resulting in an additional $45 million raised through ad valorem or property taxes.
Gordon Burger, the county’s budget and administrative services director, estimated that 32% of the county’s budget would go toward the various functions of the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, including law enforcement, jail functions, and 911 dispatch.
County commissioners noted on Wednesday that the tentative millage rates approved that day represented a maximum direction for the county budget office ahead of final budget preparations in the fall.
“This is setting a ceiling,” Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch said at the meeting, meaning commissioners can still drop the rate, although they can’t raise it.
Commissioner Ken Doherty recommended that the commissioners reconvene in August — a month planned for vacation — to iron out any areas of the budget where they could come up with possible reductions.
Chairman Bill Truex largely agreed with the sentiment, noting that the millage rate was a good starting point for future assessment.
“We’re all on the same page. We’re going to reduce somewhere,” he said.
Commissioners also clarified that any budget reductions would be about paring down the tentative budget rather than cutting down the past year’s $1.1 billion budget, after Burger clarified that discussion of “cuts” could affect county staff morale.
“It’s not about the people,” Vice Chair Christopher Constance said in response. “It’s about the positions.”
Burger also noted that the portion of the budget controlled by county commissioners did not include property tax dollars for public schools, which is overseen by the Charlotte County School Board.
Charlotte County taxpayers also pay property taxes to regional entities like the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the West Coast Inland Navigation District.
The 2024/25 Charlotte County Tentative Budget can be reviewed in the July 17 agenda found on the Charlotte County Commission’s website.
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