With property tax reform looming, stricter state budget requirements, and the town draining down a state bridge loan, Town Manager Will McKannay will ask the Fort Myers Beach Town Council to approve a 30% millage rate hike for fiscal year 2027.
The current millage rate is 1.0294 per $1,000 of assessed property value. McKannay is proposing the rate go to 1.34 and states the increase is to help the town “become more sustainable in the future.”
As presented to the Town Council on July 15th, McKannay reported that the preliminary budget is currently unbalanced and the town will experience a shortfall of over $600,000.
The town is expected to see more revenue from taxpayers after Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell said property values on Fort Myers Beach increased 8.52% over last year. Caldwell reports that Fort Myers Beach went from $4.6 billion in total taxable value last year to just over $5 billion this year. From Caldwell’s increase in valuation the town will see an additional $346,462. However, according to McKannay, that’s not enough.
Since last year, McKannay has brought on an additional 12 full-time employees due to ‘operational needs and departmental reorganizations.’ Those additional hires will add over $525,000 to the budget between cost-of-living increase ($212,000), bonuses ($230,000), and a step plan/career ladder program ($84,425).
In addition to the new hires, the town is budgeting over $325,000 to operate the pool, with projections to generate $0 in revenue, $683,000 to operate the Mound House, with $124,0000 in projected revenue, and over $930,000 to operate Bay Oaks with $120,000 in projected revenue.
The town says it’s using $629,030 from a state bridge loan to cover operating expenses which it received following Hurricane Ian. The $11.9 million interest free bridge loan was awarded to the town in early 2023.
A millage increase to 1.34 will provide the town with an additional $1,792,925.21 in revenue above the rolled back rate. The town’s rolled back rate is .9687. That millage rate would provide the town with the exact same amount of ad valorem revenue as last year. If the town approved a millage rate of 1.34, that increase would be 38.5% above the rolled back rate.
Back in June, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 4-F and House Bill 1329 into law. That makes it harder for local municipalities to easily pass millage increases. Millage rates up to 110 percent of the rolled-back rate require a two-thirds vote of the governing body. Millage rates above 110 percent of the rolled-back rate require a unanimous vote.
The legislation also requires local governments to publish detailed financial information online, including: budget summaries, revenues and expenditures, departmental spending, staffing information, reserve levels and fund balances, and additional financial reports and budget documents.
Most significantly, HB 1329 requires local governments to conduct a budget reduction exercise before adopting a final budget. Local officials must identify strategies to reduce proposed spending by 10 percent without affecting essential services such as law enforcement, fire protection, and other legally required government functions.
The town does not hold budget workshops like all other municipalities. They go straight to 2 budget hearings after they approve the millage rate ceiling, which they will do Monday. Once that’s approved they can reduce the rate at the budget hearings, they cannot increase it. The first budget hearing is September 9th at 5:01PM. The final budget hearing is September 23rd at 5:01PM.
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Time to cut some expenses. Start with the mound house. Bay Oaks should pay for itself.