With one 'no' vote, Leon County Children's Services Council OKs tax hike for next year

Leon County residents will be paying a little more for children's initiatives next year, now that the Children's Services Council has OK'd what amounts to a tax hike to fund its next budget.

The CSC on Thursday approved its next year's property tax rate during a second and final public hearing. The organization supports groups serving children and families in Leon County and works to identify children’s needs in the community. It funds its efforts by levying a property tax.

In an 8-1 vote, the council voted to maintain its tax rate at 34.7 cents per $1,000 of taxable property. But the decision still counts as an increase because of increased property values. For a $200,000 home, the tax is now about $69.40; it was about $64.

Since its inception in 2020, the council has been funded by the taxpayers of Leon County — and in some cases begrudgingly. Property owners have attended meetings to plead for a lower tax rate, but there were no public speakers on the matter Thursday.

The tax rate is expected to generate $8.4 million to support children and families in Leon County.

Circuit Judge Barbara Hobbs was the only member of the council absent, but Florida law prohibits judges from discussing and voting on the tax rate. In a separate vote during the meeting, the council unanimously approved a $9.07 million budget for next year.

Simone Marstiller, appointed to the council in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis, was the lone 'dissenter 'no' vote on the property tax hike. After the vote but during the meeting, Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna asked her why.

"My overarching concern about keeping the (tax) rate the same was that I have yet to see any real performance measures and timelines and things like that," said Marstiller, an attorney with the Gunster law firm who most recently was head of the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, and Department of Juvenile Justice before that.

She was absent for the first public hearing in July. "I would not be in favor of keeping this particular rate, but had I been here (in July) I would be voting for rolling it back even further," Marstiller added.

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3 .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: With one 'no' vote, Leon County Children's Services Council OKs tax hike for next year