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County's tax base surpasses expectations
Commissioners consider a tax cut to help offset gas prices and property insurance bills.
By GARRETT THEROLF
Published May 18, 2006
The county's tax base - buoyed by a continued development boom - is skyrocketing beyond the best hopes of county budgeteers.
Property Appraiser Mike Wells told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday that the tax base rose from $19.9-billion in 2005 to an estimated $25.3-billion this year. The 27 percent increase is the largest on record.
"It just keeps going up and up and up," Wells said. "These are incredible numbers."
Tax authorities have responded to the steadily increasing tax base in recent years by reducing the tax rate, and county leaders said this year would be no exception.
"I expect we'll see a significant drop in millage," County Commissioner Steve Simon said. "Let's have some substance to the cut so that the property tax bill actually goes down despite the increased value of the home."
Commissioner Ted Schrader said he too foresaw a property tax cut, although he said it would be too early to say how much.
The commissioners said a rate cut would provide a chance to offset pain that residents are experiencing at the gas pump and because of fast-rising property insurance bills.
"At the county level, we can't fix the causes behind the property insurance problem, but we can certainly help to take some of the pain away by lowering taxes," Simon said.
If current property tax rates levied by the county, the school board and other entities hold at their current total millage rate of about 16 mills, the larger tax base could raise an extra $87.6-million once taxes start rolling in the fall.
A mill represents $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. If your house's taxable value is $150,000, a rate of 16 mills would cost you $2,400.
Much of the increase in countywide property value was attributed by Wells and others to new construction.
"I'm sure that we are starting to see major increases in commercial real estate especially," Schrader said.
[Last modified May 18, 2006, 01:40:19]
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