Council seeks higher taxes for ‘rebuilding’
LOXAHATCHEE GROVES — After a fiscal year that saw the town get pummeled first by Hurricane Irma and then by brutal road conditions, it’s time to rebuild, Town Manager Bill Underwood told the council at Tuesday night’s meeting.
“This is the year of rebuilding,” he said as he presented the proposed budget for the coming year.
The council as the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District board unanimously approved a preliminary $300 per acre assessment for Loxahatchee Groves property owners to help pay for canal and road maintenance.
As itself, the council also unanimously approved a preliminary tax rate of $3 for every $1,000 of taxable property value, a jump from the current tax rate of $2.15 per $1,000 of taxable property value.
Both increases are tentative and set the stage for further budget discussions in August and September, Underwood said. With the preliminary rates set, the town can approve final rates that are lower but not higher. Of those two preliminary rates, the assessment is likely to be cut with Vice Mayor Todd McLendon saying he is not inclined to pass that on final reading.
“My hope is if this is the top number, we can come down maybe to $250,” Mayor Dave Browning said.
The council also voted 4-1, with Councilwoman Phillis Maniglia dissenting, to approve a higher preliminary solid waste assessment of $470 per unit. That most likely will come down, council members said.
However, some increase in the solid waste rate is likely because that fund was depleted to pay for debris cleanup after Hurricane Irma, Underwood said. Before the storm, the town was subsidizing the solid waste assessment for each property owner by using reserves from the solid waste fund. With no reserves left, that cannot continue, Underwood said.
The town’s Finance Advisory and Auditing Committee recommended to the council that the preliminary rates be approved, with committee member Anita Kane telling the council the recommendations may be “unpopular,” but they will put the town in a better financial position.
“We’ve got to stop patching things and we’ve got to actually fix it,” Kane said. She pointed to the town’s rundown dirt roads, which are in constant need of repair after heavy rain. Any assessment below $300 per acre will not be enough to make the permanent fixes to those roads that are desperately needed, Kane said. “You’re just going to keep throwing our money away,” she added.
The total proposed budget is about $9 million, Underwood said. It includes adding an assistant town manager to the payroll to help in the transition as Underwood’s management company plans to leave the town within the next two years, council members said.