Winter Park, Maitland set tax rates Monday

Questions regarding what to cut and what to keep, how much to spend and where, and at what rate to set property taxes will all have to be answered next week, as the Maitland City Council and Winter Park Commission vote to approve their 2013 city budgets and millage rates.

Both cities’ new fiscal years start Oct. 1, so budget approval and balancing must all be approved at the Sept. 24 meetings.

In Maitland, the City Council has spent portions of its last two meetings debating a list of 19 budgetary items on the fence for 2013. A tentative copy of the approved version of the city’s $21.13 million budget as of the Council’s Sept. 10 meeting shows 13 of those items approved resulting in an addition to the city’s general fund balance of $97,706 with the millage rate set at 3.93 ($3.93 per $1,000 of taxable value). The debt service millage is proposed at 0.5 for a total millage of 4.43.

But Maitland Management Services Director Sharon Anselmo says many of those cuts are likely to come back up for debate among Council members before the budget is finalized.

“They didn’t really all come to a consensus, so they’ll really have to come to a decision on Monday,” she said.

Key items of contention exist over whether to defer re-carpeting the library to next year in favor of letting it remain open on Mondays this year, and also whether or not to fund federal and state lobbyist positions, for $60,250 and $50,004, respectively.

“We do have the money, the question is just how we’ll spend it… it’s not that we don’t have the money [to fund the positions], it’s just are we getting value for it?” Councilman Phil Bonus asked at the Council’s Sept. 10 meeting.

The tentative budget approved that night, with dissenting votes from Bonus and Councilwoman Linda Frosch, included the funding of both positions and the compromise to allow the library to open on Mondays.

Bonus and Frosch have continually voted in opposition of the budget as is, because of the proposed increased millage rate, 3.93, up from 3.88, where it’s been since 2007.

The increase is equivalent to an additional 5 cents per $1,000 of taxable value — so about $10 for a home with a $200,000 taxable value.

“I can’t believe that we would raise taxes on people in this economy to save more money ourselves,” Bonus said, a nod to the funds left over to transfer to the city’s general fund.

If the budget stays as it stands, but the millage was kept at 3.88, Anselmo said, $4,000 would roll into the fund balance, instead of the $97,706 estimated with the 3.93 rate.

Valdes said he approved the idea of the tax increase if it meant the city hiring more people and unfreezing positions. Anselmo said there are 20 frozen positions in the city, and two additional freezes included in the current tentative budget. One position within the fire department has been recommended to be unfrozen as a part-time position, and two police positions have been added in the current budget.

At the Council meeting on Monday, city department heads will present to Council what, if any, positions they would request unfreezing to improve service. Those requests will be added to the list of items up for consideration as budget balancing comes to close.

Winter Park

A copy of each cities’ tentative budget for the fiscal year of 2013 is available online on the city websites – itsmymaitland.com and cityofwinterpark.org

Winter Park passed a millage rate that will be the same as last year, but will effectively lower taxes for residents, Mayor Ken Bradley said.

The millage was set at 4.0923, the same as the current operating budget, which Bradley said represents an average decrease for property owners of .71 percent, due to a decline in property values. The city’s debt service millage, which is in addition to the operating millage, is .3260, for a total of 4.4183.

That passed on first reading with little debate by a 5-0 vote. But the vote on the overall budget, about which Carolyn Cooper raised questions regarding trimming and removing dead and dying trees and reaffirming the city’s commitment to converting the post office into parkland, drew some contention.

That eventually passed on a 4-1 vote, with Cooper dissenting. The millage and budget will be up for a final vote at the Sept. 24 Commission meeting.