High Springs proposed budget cuts hinge on tax rate

For the past year, property owners in the City of High Springs have been paying a 6.15 percent tax rate on the value of their real estate. That rate will not go any higher with the new City budget.

After spending Monday night and about another three hours Tuesday night going through a preliminary line-by-line review of the proposed 2010-2011 fiscal year budget, the city commission concluded its Aug. 3 meeting with a unanimous vote in favor of setting, and in effect keeping, the maximum millage rate at 6.15 percent.

Over the next two months, the commission will hold a series of special budget meetings to fine-tune the spending allocations and revise proposed cuts. Two of these meetings will specifically re-address the property tax rate.

The first will be a public hearing on Sept. 9, where commissioners will listen to citizen input regarding the rate, and they will then vote on a tentative number. The third and final step in the process of setting the millage rate will take place Sept. 27 when the commission will finalize the rate and adopt the budget.

The final millage rate cannot exceed 6.16 percent, but it can be lower.  Factoring in the recent drop in property value within the city, a 6.15 percent rate would mean a 9 percent overall loss in property tax revenue in the coming year.

City Manager Jim Drumm, who prepared the budget proposal, explained that he did so using the 6.15 percent rate at the direction of the commission. Drumm said that setting 6.15 as the maximum rate could further limit commissioners on how they can revise the budget as a whole.

If the commissioners want to prevent some of the proposed cuts, as they have suggested, they will have to find another source of revenue to make up for the loss in tax money.

“Cuts are severe, and it’s really going to affect the level of service in the city,” said Drumm, “but ultimately it’s the commission’s call.”

Mayor Bill Coughlin and Commissioner Larry Travis both said that while they personally could manage to foot the bill for a small rate increase, they understand that at this time, given the state of the economy, many High Springs citizens could not.

Commissioners Eric May, Dean Davis and John Hill all agreed they could not, in good conscience, and would not vote for an increase.