Delray Beach residents may get some slight relief in their property taxes after city commissioners voted 3-2 to back a tax rate reduction for the upcoming fiscal year.
The new tax rate will be about 5.91 instead of 6.36, the current tax rate. This means residents would save about $67 a year per $300,000 in taxable property value, or about $5 a month. A resident with a home worth $600,000 would save about $12 a month, according to city officials.
Counties and cities across Florida, including Delray Beach, are discussing how to carry out budgets for the next fiscal year, which includes setting property tax rates. The new budget year for 2025 will begin on Oct. 1.
Those newly elected in March — Mayor Tom Carney, Vice Mayor Juli Casale and commissioner Tom Markert — voted to support the reduction. They said they want to provide residents and businesses with some relief and rely instead on “creative solutions” to fund city services.
“I like to cut taxes,” Carney said during a meeting. “I ran on it, and everybody I spoke to said, ‘Would you please cut taxes?'”
Here’s how some of the city’s services could be affected, according to Delray Beach department leaders:
— The fire rescue department could have to increase its response times and could need to reduce staffing and training as well as rely more on Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
— The police department could freeze hiring, reduce its “investigative services” and reduce repairs and maintenance to equipment.
— The parks and recreation department could reduce special events and concerts and could have to reduce repair and maintenance to buildings and playgrounds.
— The public works department could have to reduce repairs to street lighting, traffic operations, and street and building maintenance.
But Carney and Casale said the city could find other ways to generate revenue.
Casale suggested the city start charging non-residents $35 to park at the beach, for example. “Let us monetize our assets and give the residents a little bit of a break,” she said during the meeting.
Carney said he doesn’t believe the fire rescue department or the police department would reduce its level of service if they were operating with less money.
“I just don’t buy that because you guys are too proud, and I know darn well you comply, someone makes a call, you will be there,” he said. “I believe it and the same with the police department, you guys do great work.”
Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns, who both voted against the proposed tax rate reduction, took issue with the idea that the departments could be stretched thinner, especially when residents won’t be saving that much money every month.
“There is no scenario where we can have our cake and eat it too,” Long said.
Long wondered if it could lead to an increase in crime, which Police Chief Russ Mager addressed.
“If you cut my budget, it does not allow for me to do what I want to do and what’s necessary to keep the city safe at a level that we are expecting from our police department,” Mager said.
The commission will meet again in August to discuss more of the details surrounding the reduction. Public hearings will be held on Sept. 3 and Sept. 16 to discuss the city’s overall budget.
