City may raise tax rate to close gap

Lauderdale Lakes faces $1.1M deficit

LAUDERDALE LAKES – Lauderdale Lakes, a city with a troubled financial past and the highest property tax rates in Broward County, plans to raise taxes and fire-rescue fees but still faces a $1.1 million budget gap.

The city is continuing to climb out of a financial hole that first appeared in 2011. Since then, the city has downsized its City Commission, fired its city manager and replaced him, and elected new leaders.

Mayor Hazelle Rogers said the city can’t afford to cut back on property tax income right now and is continuing efforts to rebuild. The city has largely returned from the brink of bankruptcy, but still is financially fragile.

“We’re looking good,” she said, “butwe have to be so cautious. The new commissioners just want to take this time to look at everything.”

City commissioners voted recently to tentatively set a property tax rate of $8.50 on every $1,000 of taxable value. That’s the same rate as last year, but when coupled with rising property values, it will result in tax increases. The fire rescue fee is proposed to rise10 percent to $321 for a residential property.

Even with that tax rate,

some expenses would have to be cut because of the projected budget gap. City budget materials suggest employee merit-based pay raises could be eliminated, cost-of-living raises delayed, and special events could be cut.

The city’s property tax is just one line item on a total property tax bill. With the other taxes factored in, property owners in Lauderdale Lakes last year paid about $24 on every $1,000 of taxable value, the highest total tax rate in the county, according to data from the property appraiser’s office.

Property values in Lauderdale Lakes are relatively low, a factor that helps keep tax bills low despite the tax rate. The average home value is $101,855, less than half the county average, according to data from the property appraiser’s office.

Rogers said a key focus of the city’s efforts in the coming year will be economic development, including attracting higher incomeearners to Lauderdale Lakes. Aquarter of the city’s population lives below the poverty level, according to U.S. Census data. That’s much higher than the countywide average of 14.5 percent.

The relatively small, 56-year-old city of about 33,000 people is in the center of Broward, between Lauderhill and Oakland Park.

Higher-end development and businesses also must be attracted, she said.

Like other mayors in Broward, Rogers said the city already is bracing for the expected passage of an additional $25,000 property tax exemption for homeowners. Voters face the initiative on the November 2018 ballot anditwould take effect in January 2019.

But because the additional exemption applies only to home values higher than$100,000, the impact to Lauderdale Lakes appears minimal. An analysis by the Broward property appraiser’s office shows Lauderdale Lakes tax income dropping by just $127,910 if the exemption passes. Acity could raise its tax rate to make up for the loss. The city’s budget is $20.45 million.

With the tax rate proposed: ■

For the owner of a $100,000 house that’s a primary residence and protected by state homestead laws, the value would increase only 2.1 percent, and $50,000 in value would be exempt from taxation. The increasewould be about $18 and the bill $443.

For the owner of a $100,000 house used as a rental or part-time residence, which grew in value this year by the average 9 percent, the increase in the city portion of the property tax bill would be about $76, with the bill at $502.

The city has no plans to raise two fees that appear on residential property tax bills. The stormwater fee will remain at $75 a year. The solid waste fee will remain at $260.

Tentative tax notices go out in August; final bills are mailed in November, with discounts offered for early payers. Lauderdale Lakes budget hearings, where the fees and taxes will get final votes after public input, are scheduled for Sept. 13 and Sept. 19.