Editor

The Osceola County Commission Sept. 7 on a 3-2 vote approved a tentative county tax rate for the 2010-11 fiscal year that was lower than what county staff recommended.

The millage the commission agreed on was 6.7000, equivalent to $670 per $100,000 of assessed value. The county millage is the second highest tax that property owners see on their tax bills; the highest is for the school district.

Staff’s recommendation for the county millage was 6.9000. The lower rate would produce about $5 million less in property tax revenue than staff recommended and would represent the county collecting about $19 million less for the coming fiscal year than it did the prior year.

Other tentative millages include: emergency medical service, 1.0682; library, 0.2566; and environmental lands (SAVE program), 0.05. These rates remained at levels commissioners tentatively agreed to in an earlier public hearing. The county millages rejected by the commission on 2-3 votes were 6.5000 and 6.3396.

The commission could still adopt a lower rate for any of the different taxes but could not increase them. The final public hearing on the tax rates and the county budget will be at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, at the County Commission Chambers.

County Manger Don Fisher had recommended the 6.9000 rate as one that would allow an overall county tax levy decrease of $14 million for the fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. He also said the higher tax rate would help the county replace the $10 million in cash reserves it will have to use to balance the 2010-11 budget as well as make up for the amount corresponding to a two-week furlough for county employees so that the time off wouldn’t have to be repeated the following fiscal year.

Fisher added that the proposed budget also reflects no new capital projects, higher levels of employee contributions for health insurance and no layoffs.

“At this rate (6.9000), we’re looking at $20 million budget deficit next year again,” Fisher said. “This rate would provide an overall tax decrease, make the county operation healthy and make any shortfall next year manageable.”

In a bit of good news, Donna Renberg, director of the county’s Office of Management and Budget, said that while property values are still declining, the rate of the decline “has slowed.” Plus, she said the county has received more federal stimulus money for various road projects than anticipated, helping the budget.

However, Renberg warned that the county’s road and bridge department – without additional subsidies from the general fund to supplement gas tax revenue shortfalls – could not operate in the 2011-12 fiscal year without service cuts and layoffs. She also said the library could operate for about a year and a half without service cuts under the tax rate the commission tentatively approved.

The overall county budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to county staff, will be $753,883,316, compared to $800,538,023 the prior year, a decrease of about 6 percent. Overall property taxes generated would be $142,229,803, compared to $160,158,782 in the prior fiscal year, a drop of about 11 percent.

County Commissioner John Quiñones said a millage increase, higher fire assessment fees and higher utility deposits for many residents would all add up to an extra burden that taxpayers are not equipped to handle at a time when the county should be cutting taxes.

Commissioner Michael Harford said not agreeing to a tax rate that would improve the county’s finances in fiscal year 2010-11 would just make it more difficult to balance the budget the following year.

“This tax rate (6.900) still gives taxpayers a $14 million break and helps us prepare for next year so we don’t have to fight this battle again,” Harford said, adding that the coming two-week furlough is indeed a service cut, since county offices would be closed on designated furlough days.