Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fort Lauderdale’s budget keeps tax rate, raises stormwater fees
FORT LAUDERDALE – No tax rate hike is coming next year in Fort Lauderdale.
But we can’t say the same for stormwater rates — a fee that had one weary resident referencing the infamous “taxation without representation” Boston Tea Party.
Fort Lauderdale property owners will pay the same property tax rate and fire fee under an $847.8 million budget plan that sailed through a final commission vote Monday night.
With the economy in free fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, Fort Lauderdale’s budget took a $34 million hit.
Despite that challenge, City Manager Chris Lagerbloom and his budget directors balanced the $368 million general fund without raising the tax rate or resorting to layoffs and service cuts for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Homeowners won’t see an increase in their tax rate — one of the lowest in Broward County.
Fort Lauderdale’s base tax rate has not changed in 14 years, remaining stable at $412 per $100,000 assessed property val
ue. But you might end up paying more next year anyway due to a rise in property values.
Fort Lauderdale’s total tax rate will increase to $434.11 per $100,000 in assessed property value to help pay off two 30-year bonds for parks and a new police headquarters approved by voters in March 2019.
Homeowners will pay the same $311 fire fee they paid last year.
There is one pesky increase on the way, and that’s the stormwater fee.
Property owners will be paying more to help protect seven neighborhoods from king tides and sea-level rise and the entire city from rainstorm flooding.
The controversial plan — expected to raise $28.8 million in the coming fiscal year — will transfer stormwater fees from the monthly water bill to the property tax bill.
Some residents questioned the fairness of the new formula.
Resident Elsie Hall, who is in her 70s, compared the fee hike to the high taxes that led to the Boston Tea Party. For those needing a refresher, American colonists protesting high taxes imposed by the mother country dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor in 1773.
Hall told commissioners she lives on a monthly income of $764 and has neighbors who live on even less.
“We are already choosing between food and medication and housing to live in in the middle of a pandemic,” she said. “We are your parents and grandparents. This is a bad idea. We cannot afford to pay this in a pandemic.”
Raphael Impellizzeri, who lives in the Melrose Park neighborhood, argued that homeowners who live on the beach or near waterways should pay more since their properties tend to be more prone to flooding.
“It is very unfair for single-family residents who live in Melrose [Park] to pay the same rate as a house in Rio Vista or on the beach,” he said. “Why should I have to have my taxes raised up? It’s very unfair to the working poor, as I like to say. The wealthy who live in these $2 million houses can pay a higher price. For us, we’re watching every penny.”
Mayor Dean Trantalis explained that the planned improvements will not only fortify the city from sea-level rise, but also from the frequent torrent of rainwater.
The new rate, approved 4-1 with Commissioner Robert McKinzie voting no, takes into account the number of traffic trips estimated for each property.
The owner of a mansion valued at $1 million will pay the same as the owner of a home valued at $150,000. Their rates will increase from $168 a year to $258.26, or 54%.
Condo owners could see increases as high as 100% or more, but will still pay less than those who own a single-family house.
The owner of a condo in a 110-unit building will see their stormwater fee rise from $42.55 to $75.76, or 78%. The owner of a condo in a 370-unit building will see their rate increase from $22.47 to $46.63, or 107%.
Businesses will also pay more. A 120,000-square-foot grocery store will see their bill go from $3,200 a year to $22,585, a 606% increase.
The rate increase will help the city borrow $200 million that will be paid back over the next 30 years.
Property owners who want to appeal their stormwater rate can contact the city manager’s office at 954-828-5959.