West Palm keeps tax rate the same; revenue to rise

Property values are up but $1.7 billion below 2008 peak.

WEST PALM BEACH — Your cit y t ax rate will st ay the same but you’ll likely pay more because your home is worth more.

T h e C i t y C o mmi s s i o n on Thursday unanimously approved a tax rate of about $8.35 per 1,000 of a home’s or commercial property’s taxable value for the fifiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

The upshot: The rate is 7.75 percent higher than what’s called the rolled-back rate, the rate that would have brought in the same amount of revenues as last year.

What does that mean for you?

The owner of a $200,000 homesteaded house will pay about 1,699 in propert y taxes. That’s $2 less than last year because a separate tax rate that relates to the city’s debt has decreased. But because homes on average increased in value by 10 percent this year, that homeowner can expect to pay an additional $17.

Overall the operating budget will total just under $171 million for the city of 110,000 residents, $7.9 million more than this year.

Finance Direc tor Mark Parks said property values have reached $11.01 billion, a big jump from $9.9 billion last year and $ 8.9 billion the year before that. The $11.01 billion is still well below the city’s peak year of 2008, when property values reached $12.7 billion

T h e t a x r o l l h a s a l s o increased by $188.5 million because of new construction projects that came on line.

Forty- one percent of West Palm Beach revenues come from property taxes and 20 percent from charges for services.

The biggest city operating expenses are for public safety — police and fifire. Those two departments cost about $92 million. By contrast the city only collects $68 million in property taxes. That’s why fees and charges are levied for a variet y of other services, he said.

Police costs actually are expected to drop by $3 million, to $57 million next year. Fire costs will rise by about that much, though, to $36 million, mainly because a grant that covered the cost of hiring several fifirefifighters is not ongoing.

Mayor Jeri Muoio noted that because of the increased property values and tax revenues, the city is able to add to its police force, a wish of many residents. The budget also allows for a 3.5 percent, across-the-board raise for city employees, who went without raises for a few years. Have a West Palm Beach news tip? Contact Staffff Writer Tony Doris at tdoris@ pbpost.com or 561-8204703.