Maitland maintains tax rate, stormwater fee

Maitland City Council voted unanimously Monday to keep the property tax rate at $4.38 per $1,000 of taxable property. A final vote is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 26.

The city will operate with $3.88 mills and use $0.50 mills to pay bond debt tied to its new city hall and fire station.

Council approved the first reading of the almost $22 million budget without any discussion. Councilwoman Linda Frosch assured residents that they had been working on the document since June and it was thoroughly vetted.

“It’s been a long budget season,” Frosch said.

The city gets 34 percent of its budget dollars from property taxes. This year, the city actually saw a slight increase — less than 1 percent — in total taxable value, Management Services Director Sharon Anselmo said.

Cuts all around

Despite leveling off property values, city departments shaved 6 percent off their budgets to offset increased costs. Maitland’s cultural partners took a $43,000 hit.

The Maitland Public Library, the Performing Arts of Maitland and Art & History Museums had already seen their budgets cut by 15 percent in the past three years. The city had originally asked them to keep their budgets flat for 2012 before it found out various utility fees were set to increase.

Mayor Howard Schieferdecker and Councilwoman Bev Reponen fought for a lesser cut — 1.55 percent — for the partners. On Aug. 22, Reponen likened a 5 percent cut to chopping them off at the ankles.

Schieferdecker said the partners should be treated differently from city departments. “Our cultural partners bring in a lot of money to our cities, and that’s not seen here,” he said about the proposed budget. “We need to take that into account.”

Councilman Ivan Valdes proposed a compromise at 3 percent.

But Councilman Phil Bonus, along with Frosch, said the city should send a uniform message.

“It’s hard setting a budget because the basis of budgeting is not everyone can have everything they want,” he said. “That’s why it’s a budget and not an open checkbook.

“It’s important for the rest of the community to know that we hold ourselves and our cultural partners to the same standards ….”

In a split vote on Aug. 22, Council approved the partners combined budget at $1,010,000 – about a 4 percent cut.

Stormwater fee

On Sept. 12, Council also approved to keep the environmental stormwater utility fee at $7.25 per month per residential unit.

Similar to a garbage or water utility fee, the fee funds daily tasks, such as street sweeping and inlet cleaning, and larger-scale projects, such as herbicide treatments and infrastructure improvements.

The fee is based on the size of the property. A person with a 2,532-square-foot home pays $7.25 a month, or $87 a year. A 2,000-square-foot home pays about $5 a month. A 10,000-square-foot commercial property pays about $40 a month.

Lakes Advisory Board Chairman Marc P. Walch urged Council to raise the fee to $8 because the fund will see a $500,000 deficit in 2016. Schieferdecker supported Walch, saying that it would only mean an increase of $9 a year per home but cover important capital improvements.

Eight dollars a month “gives us $100,000 more a year in our fund,” Schieferdecker said.

But the rest of Council said the fund was not yet in danger and they shouldn’t raise fees on residents under such economic turmoil.

“This is balancing the wisdom of your logic with our actual capabilities and the burden this might put on people this year,” Bonus said. “The wolf is not at the door with this fund.”