- February 8, 2025
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The Port Orange City Council is one step closer to finalizing all of the numbers related to the budget and millage rate.
On Tuesday, Sept. 5, the city council held the first of two public hearings for the tentative millage rate and budget for fiscal year 2018. The night's proceedings included seven resolution adoptions for the budget and millage rate.
"It's the same thing year in and year out — we under-budget our revenues, we over-budget our expenditures," resident Ted Noftall said during the time for public comment. He added that the "9% tax increase is unwarranted, it is unjustified, and it is certainly not derived from any proper budget deliberation that I have ever seen before."
The council voted to have the tentative millage rate be set at 4.5673 mills per $1,000 of valuation for the fiscal year 2018, which begins on Oct. 1, 2017 and ends Sept. 30, 2018. This is an 8.89% increase in ad valorem tax revenues above the rolled-back rate, which is 4.1945 mills per $1,000 of valuation, according to the city.
All seven resolutions were passed with 3-2 votes. Mayor Don Burnette, Councilman Drew Bastian and Councilman Scott Stiltner voted in favor of the resolutions while Councilman Chase Tramont and Vice Mayor Bob Ford voted against the resolutions each time.
Tremont said he was at the meeting to represent the citizens who didn't want their taxes raised.
"I don't believe we're living within our means. I don't support this," Tramont said, adding "I think we're putting ourselves at risk of handicapping ourselves in the future."
The council added the approval of the fiscal year 2018 tentative operating budget and tentative capital budget in addition to the Community Redevelopment Agency for the Port Orange Town Center in fiscal year 2018 with the tentative millage rate of 4.5673 mills per $1,000 of valuation.
Lastly, the council approved the adoption of the Community Redevelopment Agency for the Eastport Business Center for fiscal year 2018 with the same tentative millage before approving the agency for the Eastport Business Center for the fiscal year 2018 tentative operating budget.
"We're too good of a city to go backwards," Bastian said. "I just don't want us to move in that direction and negatively affect the citizens that are here because of what's provided, even at the proposed millage rate."
