The city commission Monday approved the tentative budget for the 2017 fiscal year, including the first property tax increase Plant City has seen since 1991.
The $75 million budget has seen little change since commissioners held the first budget workshop in late July. During the workshop, Mayor Rick Lott proposed the property tax increase as a way to address what city officials commonly refer to the the most common complaint in Plant City, the condition of its roads.
“We’ve been discussing this now since June, so don’t think we’ve passed a budget without a lot of discussion,” Lott said. “We’ve had workshops, lot of discussions, we’ve been through
it many, many, many times. At this point in time, it’s the opportunity for us to either discuss it some more or, if we’re comfortable with it (vote). We still have one more public hearing where we can still make changes, if necessary.”
The FY2017 budget (which runs from Oct. 1, 2017 through Sep. 30, 2018) raises Plant City’s millage rate by one mill, from 4.1757 to 5.7157. The millage rate is the rate of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. Under the new budget, taxes would increase by $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value.
In Plant City, the average home is worth about $100,000. With the $50,000 homestead exemption, the average resident pays taxes on $50,000 of their home’s value. The new tax rate would increase an average Plant City home’s city property tax by $50 per year, or about $4 per month.
According to city staff, the tax increase will raise nearly $2 million for street projects. The money raised from the increase will go into the budget’s general fund and show as a transfer from the general fund to a project called ‘street resurfacing.’
Plant City currently maintains about 160 miles of roads. Road projects were previously funded at $1 million a year, which would have all city-maintained roads repaired and maintained about once every 64 years. According to the city’s engineering department, it would be ideal to maintain roads in a 15-to-20 year cycle, requiring a $4 million-per-year investment in roads. For the next two budget cycles, Hillsborough County has agreed to provide Plant City with $2 million for road projects if Plant City can raise $2 million of its own, adding up to the $4 million needed for the city’s goals. While the future of that matching grant isn’t guaranteed, commissioners anticipate Hillsborough County could continue the grant in future years if Plant City continues to have its own matching funds.
The public hearing provides a venue for Plant City residents to voice any support or concern over the budget. Two residents spoke during the meeting, neither objecting the raise.
“My taxes are going up a hundred bucks,” John Anderson, a Plant City resident, said. “If there was a donation jar down on Alexander, I would’ve put 100 bucks in it a decade ago.”
Anderson did, however, object to an item in the Police Department’s budget providing $335,000 for an armored tactical vehicle to “provide better protection for our citizens during high risk situations,” according to city documents. Anderson questioned the necessity for such an expenditure in Plant City.
“I’m really questioning how much this piece of equipment is going to be used,” he said. “I think we can use some asphalt equipment instead.”
The tentative budget and millage rate were adopted with a 5-0 vote. Commissioner Nate Kilton abstained from voting on the approval of the Economic Development Corporation’s funding because his accounting firm, Sedita Kilton, provides accounting services for the EDC.
The final public hearing on the budget and millage rate will be held during the Sept. 25 commission meeting to be held at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall in the Sadye Gibbs Martin Auditorium, 302 W. Reynolds St.