The Walton Board of County Commissioners (the BCC) is holding two public hearings on the tentative upcoming fiscal year’s County Budget and ad valorem millage rate on real property.
The first is at 5 p.m., Monday, 9/9/13 at the South Annex on Hwy 331 just north of Hwy 98. The second is at 5 p.m., Monday, 9/23/13 at the Courthouse in DeFuniak Springs.
BCC regular meetings will follow those public hearings on Tuesday, 9/10/13 at the South Annex at 4 p.m., and on Tuesday, 9/24/13 at the DeFuniak Springs Courthouse at 9 a.m.
County staff has a tentative budget submitted calling for as much as a greater than 13% increase in aggregate spending for next year over this year's budget, and staff has proposed 3 different millage rates to the BCC: 4.106, 3.9465, and 3.750. According to Gary Demers, Assistant County Administrator, Staff believes that it can make the budget work with either the 4.106 or the 3.9465 millage rate and still keep the unrestricted general fund reserve at an acceptable level. The current millage is 3.5563.
Mr. Demers has provided no other details as yet on making things work, though he has offered to meet with us Monday prior to the public hearing. As you can discern, the proposed millages represent increases of 15.5%, 11%, or 5.4%, respectively.
The BCC may not choose a millage higher than 4.106, but it may elect to pick one lower than 3.75, the lowest rate proposed by staff.
While we have been provided numbers for proposed expenditures, we have not been provided details of proposed revenues, their amounts and sources, as yet, thus we have no justification as yet from the county for the various millage suggestions by staff.
In a meeting of the President and the Secretary of the WCTA Thursday morning with the Chair of the BCC and the new County Administrator, neither the Chair nor the Administrator offered any insight into those numbers or, in the Chair’s case, any insight into his personal decision-making process in these budget considerations other than to indicate he is in favor of the 3.75 rate.
The Walton County Taxpayers Association urges you to contact each of the individual members of the Board of County Commissioners without delay to urge that they consider an even lower ad valorem millage rate.
There are other millages not under control of the BCC, and substantial increases are proposed in 3 of those. The two millages for schools are presently 2.865 and 2.148 (Required Local Effort and Discretionary, respectively) and which are proposed to be increased to 3.018 and 2.641, increases of 5.34% and 22.95%, respectively, a net increase in school millages of 14.85%.
The millage rates for North Walton Mosquito Control and South Walton Fire are set to remain the same.
The millage for South Walton Mosquito Control is .1138 and is proposed to increase to .1379, a 21.18% increase. A member of the Mosquito Control board has stated two days ago that their proposed increase is the result of the depletion of their reserves secondary to the extremely wet summer we’ve had, this favoring mosquito breeding and requiring extraordinary increases in operational expenses this year.
The large percentage increases proposed for county taxes are vastly greater than any increases in income by the taxpayers of this county, and the WCTA believes any increase in taxation by the BCC requires much more justification than has been provided to date.
We do not believe that increases of this magnitude are wise or warranted. In sum, our BCC needs to be reminded that local government needs to recognize that it should operate much like the citizens from whom it derives its operational funding and live within its means, making do with less during difficult times.
Unlike citizens, the BCC has the power to seize our money pretty much as it chooses to fund its desires.
Please call, write and email the Commissioners to insist that they fund our needs, not the desires of staff, and that they respect the difficult economic times we have been enduring the last 5 years by setting a millage lower than the lowest proposed by staff. And, if at all possible, attend one or both of the public hearings and the BCC meetings this month.
Unless you make your voice heard, you may expect higher taxes than would otherwise be the case.
Commissioner Contact Info
William "Bill" Chapman - chabill@co.walton.fl.us Kenneth Pridgen - prikenneth@co.walton.fl.us
Bill Imfeld - imfbill@co.walton.fl.us Sara Comander - comsara@co.walton.fl.us Cindy Meadows - meacindy@co.walton.fl.us
Complete contact info for the Commissioners: http://www.co.walton.fl.us/Index.aspx?NID=112
The first is at 5 p.m., Monday, 9/9/13 at the South Annex on Hwy 331 just north of Hwy 98. The second is at 5 p.m., Monday, 9/23/13 at the Courthouse in DeFuniak Springs.
BCC regular meetings will follow those public hearings on Tuesday, 9/10/13 at the South Annex at 4 p.m., and on Tuesday, 9/24/13 at the DeFuniak Springs Courthouse at 9 a.m.
County staff has a tentative budget submitted calling for as much as a greater than 13% increase in aggregate spending for next year over this year's budget, and staff has proposed 3 different millage rates to the BCC: 4.106, 3.9465, and 3.750. According to Gary Demers, Assistant County Administrator, Staff believes that it can make the budget work with either the 4.106 or the 3.9465 millage rate and still keep the unrestricted general fund reserve at an acceptable level. The current millage is 3.5563.
Mr. Demers has provided no other details as yet on making things work, though he has offered to meet with us Monday prior to the public hearing. As you can discern, the proposed millages represent increases of 15.5%, 11%, or 5.4%, respectively.
The BCC may not choose a millage higher than 4.106, but it may elect to pick one lower than 3.75, the lowest rate proposed by staff.
While we have been provided numbers for proposed expenditures, we have not been provided details of proposed revenues, their amounts and sources, as yet, thus we have no justification as yet from the county for the various millage suggestions by staff.
In a meeting of the President and the Secretary of the WCTA Thursday morning with the Chair of the BCC and the new County Administrator, neither the Chair nor the Administrator offered any insight into those numbers or, in the Chair’s case, any insight into his personal decision-making process in these budget considerations other than to indicate he is in favor of the 3.75 rate.
The Walton County Taxpayers Association urges you to contact each of the individual members of the Board of County Commissioners without delay to urge that they consider an even lower ad valorem millage rate.
There are other millages not under control of the BCC, and substantial increases are proposed in 3 of those. The two millages for schools are presently 2.865 and 2.148 (Required Local Effort and Discretionary, respectively) and which are proposed to be increased to 3.018 and 2.641, increases of 5.34% and 22.95%, respectively, a net increase in school millages of 14.85%.
The millage rates for North Walton Mosquito Control and South Walton Fire are set to remain the same.
The millage for South Walton Mosquito Control is .1138 and is proposed to increase to .1379, a 21.18% increase. A member of the Mosquito Control board has stated two days ago that their proposed increase is the result of the depletion of their reserves secondary to the extremely wet summer we’ve had, this favoring mosquito breeding and requiring extraordinary increases in operational expenses this year.
The large percentage increases proposed for county taxes are vastly greater than any increases in income by the taxpayers of this county, and the WCTA believes any increase in taxation by the BCC requires much more justification than has been provided to date.
We do not believe that increases of this magnitude are wise or warranted. In sum, our BCC needs to be reminded that local government needs to recognize that it should operate much like the citizens from whom it derives its operational funding and live within its means, making do with less during difficult times.
Unlike citizens, the BCC has the power to seize our money pretty much as it chooses to fund its desires.
Please call, write and email the Commissioners to insist that they fund our needs, not the desires of staff, and that they respect the difficult economic times we have been enduring the last 5 years by setting a millage lower than the lowest proposed by staff. And, if at all possible, attend one or both of the public hearings and the BCC meetings this month.
Unless you make your voice heard, you may expect higher taxes than would otherwise be the case.
Commissioner Contact Info
William "Bill" Chapman - chabill@co.walton.fl.us Kenneth Pridgen - prikenneth@co.walton.fl.us
Bill Imfeld - imfbill@co.walton.fl.us Sara Comander - comsara@co.walton.fl.us Cindy Meadows - meacindy@co.walton.fl.us
Complete contact info for the Commissioners: http://www.co.walton.fl.us/Index.aspx?NID=112
