Palm Coast and Flagler County government this week adopted their budgets and tax rates for the 2023-24 fiscal year with little controversy and so few people in the audience at final hearings that you could count them on one hand. The county raised taxes, the city kept its taxes flat.
When tax rates remain flat, as they will in the county, it’s still a tax increase according to Florida law, because property owners will pay more taxes due to increasing property values. Values increased nearly 13 percent in the county and in Palm Coast. As a result, with the county keeping its tax rate identical year over year, that equates to a tax increase for property owners. Those increases will range from 3 percent to 10 percent.
Palm Coast went to the rolled-back tax rate. That’s the rate that will generate the same revenue next year as the city generated this year. It’s not a tax decrease by any means. But it is not a tax increase, either.
Most homesteaded homeowners will see little change in their tax bill, especially with school tax rates again declining slightly. A $250,000 house with a $50,000 homestead exemption will pay $2,518 in county and city taxes, down from $2,591. The decrease is not only due to the city’s rollback, but to a slightly lower tax rate for the county’s debt service.
Renters and property owners of non-homesteaded properties will not be so lucky. For example, the tax bill at Integra Woods Apartments in Seminole Woods will jump by almost $60,000 all told, with more than $25,000 of that in county taxes, a 10 percent increase year over year. The complex’s city taxes will increase by $2,223 and will total $143,200, because of increased property values’ effects.
Homeowners often mistakenly believe that renters don’t pay property taxes. In fact, renters subsidize the property taxes of homesteaded homeowners. Integra Woods has 310 apartment units. If the landlord passes down the cost evenly, that equates to an additional $81 per unit next year–more than double the average increase in county taxes for the median homesteaded house in Palm Coast, which will see an increase of roughly 4 percent in county taxes.
Most other commercial properties will see similar increases in the city.
Some city council members wondered at Wednesday’s Palm Coast hearing adopting the rate whether this was the first time in the city’s 24-year history that it has gone to rollback, and one of them–Ed Danko, who is often inaccurate, falsely boasted in a campaign email–he’s running for a county commission seat–that “for the very first time in the history of Palm Coast, last night the City Council approved a new budget with a full-millage-rate rollback.”
It isn’t, though Danko could be excused for that mistake: many a politician doesn’t understand rollback. In 2011, for example, while the city maintained its millage rate year over year, it did so by going 16 percent below rollback, generating $7.2 million (or 21 percent) less in revenue than the previous year. The housing market and property values had crashed. The only way the city could make up that revenue was by actually going to rollback, which in that case would have required a significantly higher tax rate. Perhaps earing that residents would have (falsely) interpreted that as a tax increase, even though it would have been a move identical to Palm Coast’s this year, council members opted to lose revenue instead.
In comparison, Palm Coast’s budget this year will still grow by a few million dollars, but not as much as if it had maintained the same tax rate, as the administration had recommended to the council. Maintaining the same tax rate would have equated to an 8.29 percent increase overall, less than half that for homesteaded property owners. The rate the council adopted, $4.2570 per $1,000 in taxable value, is still significantly higher than it was in the years before and during the Great Recession.
Palm Coast residents will also see substantial increases in their water and sewer fees, their stormwater fees and their garbage fees, all of which are controlled by the city, all of which shift the revenue burden from the property tax to other revenue sources that are not called taxes, but have the same effect on household budgets. Collectively, the increase in those fees will by far dwarf whatever savings homesteaded property owners will see from the rollback.
So city officials’ claim that they have kept taxes in check should be taken with a few grains of salt. Nevertheless, council members celebrated themselves yesterday, though they more pointedly gave a standing ovation to city staff, which had to scramble in mid-July after the council surprised them with its decision to go to rollback.
That had not been the plan, and some council members privately regret it. It was a miscalculation. The plan had been to rollback the tax rate but start a new electric franchise “fee” that might have generated even more money than the lost revenue. Danko saw through the ploy, packed the chamber with his partisans and had them shout down the proposal, which died just as three previous such proposals had died since 2011.
Miscalculations aside, the end result was that the city inadvertently and quite unwillingly ended up at the rolled back rate the council members were celebrating on Wednesday, digging a bit of a hole for a city budget that now places it in a very difficult position, should the slowdown in property values ‘ increases continue, or worse, should values decline, after overheating for a couple of years. That could replicate the scenario of 2011, when the council would have to go to rollback–not to reduce revenue, but to make up lost revenue.
Atwp says
More money to waste, thank you Republicans.
Celia M Pugliese says
This shows that for this county also, is never enough tax for their frivolous waste in plans like millionaire libraries, tourist welc0me centers, state of the art county jail and airport expansions to bring more pilot training flight schools that thou use millions in FAA grants, are still our taxpayers funds generated mostly with every airport and airline tkt’s fee we pay when we travel among other taxes.
Lets remember that the ad valorem tax (yearly real estate tax) we Palmcoasters pay in our homes unfairly splits 44% county and only 24 % city, that has to build and pave all our roads and its infrastructure. Why is Flagler County the highest split ad valorem in Florida? dr.state.fl.us › Content › presentationsFlorida Overview – EDR
For counties in LFY 2018-19, ad valorem or property taxes ranged from a low of 10.5 percent of all revenues in Wakulla to a high of 47.3 percent in Flagler. The average was 24.0 percent of all…earch.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E210US739G0&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Aw%2Cm%3Ars-algo%2Cct%3Agossip&p=florida%20percentage%20ad%20valorem%20tax%20split%20between%20counties%20and%20cities%20in%20south%20carolina
Councilwoman Theresa Carli Pointieri have requested our council review, this questionable split. We need to give our councilwoman Pointieri all our support in her request. Taking in consideration that the county provides us (with us the city, additional payment of several millions) the Sheriff Services and also EMS. I still question with 47.3 percent of all revenues…in a county which actually only has 7,000 residents to govern on its unincorporated areas. Simply because as per Census 2020 Report: the county has about 115,378 total residents out of which the 2022 census shows 98,411 are Palmcoasters, 5500 are Flagler Beach, 2,850 are in Bunnell, 908 are in Crescent Beach…Then rest spread all around unincorporated Flagler County. Actually the County Commission governs and serves (including sheriff and EMS that PC also pays additional millions) only maybe 7,700 residents still reduced by the 7 to 10 residing in Marineland…and for this the city of Palm Coast has to split our ad valorem 44% county to 24% city.
We attended and let our city council know we didn’t want any higher taxes…but looks like no one did attend the county meeting that gets the lion’s share of our hard earned ad valorem on the split of 44% to county and only 24% to our city. Just lets grasp the reality. Also I believe after the county quietly increased its share not long ago of the half cent gas tax to help them better pay for their state of the art jail, then city lost more of those funds dedicated to our roads building and resurfacing. neither our city officials or us said a word against it. Just lets grasp the reality and feel free to research this data.
Adam Frank says
Isn’t Councilwoman Pontieri the one who is proposing acquiring the Malacompra park complex and beach for the City of Palm Coast?
What do you think that will do to Palm Coast’s budget,cand subsequent tax rates?
Jay tomm says
Please, it’s not the fault of any party. THIS right here is the problem…
“so few people in the audience ”
If Flagler residents actually came out to protest what their governments are doing maybe we can take back the county. No one goes to the meetings when they want to approve more housing, more large business, destruction of wet lands…..
Yet people will moan about more people more building, more taxes….Where were you?
Jane Gentile-Youd says
I was there and spoke against what I feel is quasi-illegal wracked out unfair tsx rates.
Bill says
Not republicans, this city is ran by corrupt gangsters! No party would claim these crooks!
Dennis C Rathsam says
What a joke!!!!! All you do is complain about the high cost of home ownership, no affordable housing, apt rents too high….And now you raise my taxes on my duplex, now I have to raise the rent. When will it end? The greed of this council is numming. Rent is almost $ 1500 a month, you cant live here, if you work in P/C. FOLKS!!!!! Your wittnessing the killing of Palm Coast!
The dude says
All at the hands of our MAGA friends.
Atwp says
Understand what you all are saying, usually the party in control gets the blame.
TR says
Yep you proved that with your first comment. Bet if it was a Democratic controlled government you wouldn’t blame them, now would you? Yep just as I thought.
LMAO says
Danko is full of misinformation and half truths. He runs his
mouth without doing research or any fact checking.
And he is running for county Commissioner?
This guy is a joke and a clown
Villein says
Yeah so this tax increase seems trifling in comparison to the home owners insurance increases.
Social Security cost of living increases have been more:
2021 5.9%
2022 8.7%
Tina olive says
I’m glad people go and voice their concerns at meetings. But, the crooks in government are gonna do what they want to do, especially the city council. It’s a process they have to do in letting people speak their minds. But they have no intention of listening to the people. They don’t care! It’s all about putting money in THEIR pockets. These corrupt politicians are absolutely pathetic……
TR says
Agree 100%
David Myth says
Wow they still are finding more ways to tax people!
TR says
…and will continue to do so as long as they can get away with it.
JustBeNice says
If you don’t like what they are doing (I don’t) then vote them all out (the ones who are up for re-election I will). Voters have to be on the same page.