Tallahassee, Leon eye property tax increases; city speeding fines may lead to lower rate

Both the Tallahassee City Commission and Leon County Commission are moving forward with property tax increases as part of their proposed 2025 budgets, though their actual rates aren’t going up.

The city, which months ago was eyeing a possible budget deficit , is now considering a slight reduction in its property tax rate to make up for an additional half-million dollars in revenue it expects to get from its new school zone enforcement program .

However, last-minute rate tinkering aside, both local governments are in fact proposing to balance their budgets in part with millions of dollars in additional revenue from property tax increases.

Fueled by a roughly 10% increase in property values from 2023 to 2024, the city is expected to reap $6 million in additional revenue over last year, while the county anticipates raising nearly $19 million more.

During a June 18 budget workshop, county commissioners tentatively agreed to keep their countywide and Emergency Medical Services property tax rates the same as last year at $8.3144 for every $1,000 of property value and $.75 for every $1,000 of value, respectively.

And while that passed unanimously, County Commissioners Christian Caban and Brian Welch both expressed concerns about ballooning county budgets.

“Guys, that’s a big ‘eek’ for me,” said Welch, who also is running for re-election this year in the county’s most conservative district.

Caban suggested cutting the county’s overall tax rate to the tune of $5 million, though he got no traction. He was the only commissioner to vote no on the tax increase when it came up for ratification later in July.

Meanwhile, during a June 19 workshop, city commissioners also set their maximum property tax rate at last year’s level, which is $4.45 for every $1,000 of property value. It passed 3-2, with Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter voting no after expressing concerns about overspending.

Both city and county spending plans include across-the-board raises for employees, which was another point of contention for some commissioners. Aside from property taxes, the budgets don’t include any other increases in taxes or fees, city and county officials said.

That’s a far cry from last year , when city commissioners voted to increase their property tax rate to fund nearly $10 million more for police, and county commissioners doubled the EMS tax, the first increase in the history of the ambulance service. City and county fire service and other fees also rose in 2023.

To avoid a property tax increase this year, city and county commissioners would have to adopt “rolled back” rates, which would generate the same revenue as last year. City and county brass are not recommending adoption of those lower rates.

Tax increases became an issue in the Aug. 20 primary, with Porter and Dot Inman-Johnson, who is challenging City Commissioner Curtis Richardson, campaigning against them. They’re all but certain to come up in Welch’s race against Isaac Montilla for the northeast District 4 County Commission seat.

Caban: 'We can reduce the blow to taxpayers'

During a county budget workshop in April, staff projected property tax revenues to increase a healthy $11.8 million. But by July, that figure had jumped to $18.76 million. The county’s proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year totals $377.5 million, an 8% increase from last year.

Staff in a June workshop recommended spending the additional $6.9 million on a variety of priorities and budget requests from the constitutional offices, including $3.6 million for the capital improvement program, $1.3 million for 5% employee raises and $543,000 for three new deputies. The raises are for all of the county's 791 workers as well as constitutional office employees.

Welch and Caban expressed concerns about how quickly the additional $6.9 million had been plugged into the budget between April and June. Caban suggested not spending $5 million of the additional revenue but proceeding with staff raises.

“There’s a way where we can reduce the blow to taxpayers, our employees are taken care of and also we are still increasing our revenue as a county to cover some of the daily necessities of local government,” Caban said.

Caban worried about the impact tax increases would have on efforts to create more affordable housing, a stated goal of the county and city. Property tax bills for homeowners are capped at 3% under Save Our Homes while commercial properties, including apartments that shift tax increases onto renters, are capped at 10%.

County Administrator Vince Long called the tax increase “very moderate” by Florida standards. He said that in years when property taxes values have dropped, the Leon County opted not to raise taxes.

“What we did was we drew down our reserves over that period of time, and we counted on that consistency,” Long said. “You’ll note this board doesn’t increase taxes one year and decrease taxes the next year. That ... allows us to provide stability to our taxpayers over that period of time.”

County Commissioner Nick Maddox said he understood Caban’s and Welch’s concerns but that he was “totally comfortable” with the budget and the proposed millage or property tax rates.

“We have to understand that over time, things will get good, then things will get bad, and holding that millage rate where it is and keeping it constant is the best way for us to be responsible to our constituents," Maddox said.

Matlow calls for budget cuts, Dailey says that would harm city services

The city also saw its budget picture brighten between the spring and summer as property values came in higher than expected. During a June 19 City Commission workshop, Robert Wigen, director of Resource Management, said an earlier projected $3.8 million deficit was gone and the city’s $1.19 billion budget was balanced.

“We had extraordinary growth year over year,” Wigen told commissioners, adding that projections of 5% growth came in at 9.27%, which would realize $6 million more in revenue.

He said the budget included 4.2% across-the-board pay raises, which will cost $2 million for general fund employees, like police, and another $5 million for employees of the city’s enterprise funds, including utilities and aviation. He also said the city found nearly $3 million in expense reductions through aggressive fuel hedging, vacancies and other efficiencies. The city has nearly 3,000 full-time employees.

But Matlow, as he has in past years, implored the city to cut more non-essential costs, including raises to the highest-paid managers. He made a motion to go back to the rolled-back tax rate, getting a second from Porter but no support from the other three commissioners.

“I believe where we are now, where our community just got hit by a tornado, there’s people suffering just to make ends meet and then to inflict an additional tax increase over the massive tax increase we did last year, I cannot support,” Matlow said.

Richardson worried that going to the rolled-back rate would force the city to “reevaluate our commitment” to public safety. Last year’s tax increase, which he, Mayor John Dailey and City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox supported, funded 20 new police officers and additional police technology.

“So that would impact our commitment to this community to invest in public safety and address the kind of crimes and violence,” Richardson said.

Wigen said the city would continue with the new officers and technology but that going to the lower tax rate would require “reconsideration” of employee raises.

City Manager Reese Goad said the city wouldn’t be able to maintain current service levels under the rolled-back rate. Dailey said it would require “serious cuts” to everything from parks and the senior center to new sidewalks on the south side.

“It’s a false assumption to assume that the level of service will remain the same,” Dailey said during the June workshop.

City could see tax rate nudge down ahead of budget public hearings

Meanwhile, Goad and Wigen told the Democrat that the city is looking at a potential cut in the property tax rate to account for additional money from the school zone speeding program . City commissioners approved the new program and a five-year contract with vendor RedSpeed Florida the night of June 19, after their budget workshop.

The program slaps speeders with $100 fines by mail if they are detected by camera speeding in schools zones. With such a fine, $60 would go to the City of Tallahassee, RedSpeed would take $35 and $5 goes to the school crossing guard program.

It could be lucrative for the city as initial tests at schools around Tallahassee showed thousands of violations in a single day.

“We’re running some numbers now, and so I don’t have an absolute amount,” Wigen told the Tallahassee Democrat Wednesday.

City and county commissioners could opt to reduce their property tax rates during their public hearings in September. However, they can’t increase their proposed rates at that time.

The Leon County Property Appraiser’s Office recently sent out “Truth In Millage” or TRIM notices to all property owners with details on each taxing authority’s proposed rates and their impact on individual properties. The office said that higher property values “may result in higher tax bills for many property owners.”

“By reviewing it early, you can plan ahead and ensure there are no surprises when your tax bill arrives in November,” Property Appraiser Akin Akinyemi said in a news release.

WANT TO GO AND SHARE YOUR OPINION?

The city’s public hearings are scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, and Wednesday, Sept. 25, at City Hall. The county’s public hearings are set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, and Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the County Courthouse.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee, Leon eye property tax increases; city speeding fines may lead to lower rate