- March 13, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council last week agreed to set the millage rate at 4.29 mills, or $4.29 per $1,000 of taxable value, for the fiscal year 2012-2013 budget year.
But the decision didn’t come without debate from two council members.
The rate discussed last week is the rolled-back rate, which means property taxes would remain flat and the city would generate the same amount of money despite the drop in property values. (The City Council set the maximum proposed rate at 4.5 mills earlier this budget season. That’s the highest rate that could be set when a final vote takes place later this month.)
City Councilman Frank Meeker and Mayor Jon Netts clashed over the decision during last week’s meeting.
Meeker, who will vacate his City Council seat this fall as he runs for the County Commission, said he didn’t want to raise taxes beyond the rolled-back rate, citing the poor economy.
“With the economy the way it is right now, I’m not interested in exceeding the rolled-back rate,” Meeker said.
Netts, however, didn’t like the idea of holding off on projects another year. If you want to wait, he said, “Then you’re not interested in maintaining the city’s infrastructure."
Meeker replied: "I’m willing to address as much as I can without exceeding the rolled-back rate."
Several projects need to be funded, according to city officials, including a bridge on Palm Harbor Parkway, near Florida Park Drive. If the bridge doesn’t get fixed, the Florida Department of Transportation could come in and shut the bridge down for repairs, officials said last week.
“Nobody wants to raise taxes, but the discussion is, are these essential services that we need to deliver?” Netts said. “Deferring them doesn’t solve a single thing except it gives you a little political breathing room this year.”
According to Finance Director Chris Quinn, the city hasn’t been putting much money into the capital improvements fund. Quinn said that by the end of the current fiscal year, the fund would essentially be at zero dollars.
“The last few years as we’ve cut taxes, we have not been funding our capital improvements program,” City Manager Jim Landon said in a follow-up interview. “The issue is, and City Council agreed, (that) we have to take a hard look as to how our capital infrastructure program will be funded in the future.”
Also decided at last week’s workshop was to raise the stormwater fee to help fund $7.5 million in stormwater improvements. Also, city officials agreed to cut $700,000 out of the street overlay program.
The city’s total budget for the next fiscal year is projected to be approximately $126 million. The general fund accounts for about $26 million — and property taxes account for about $15 million of that.
The first of two budget hearings when the City Council will vote on next fiscal year’s millage rate and budget gets under way at 5:05 p.m., at the Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway N.E. The meeting is open to the public.
