September 13, 2022
Last night, Palmetto Bay's Mayor & Council held the First Budget Hearing to consider two budget ordinances for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023: one to set the millage rate and the other to approve the annual budget as proposed. Residents attended online and in person to hear Council discussions and to provide their comments on the budget.
For their first order of business, the Council discussed a reduction of Palmetto Bay’s millage rate (the amount of property value used to calculate local property taxes), which was 2.4 mills for FY 2022. Although this is already much lower than the Miami-Dade County average millage rate of 5.1965, Village Manager Nick Marano proposed lowering the rate even further to 2.35. Based on the average taxable value (as opposed to market value) of a Palmetto Bay home of $362,225, residents would pay an estimated $851.23 in property taxes to the Village of Palmetto Bay for the year.
Manager Marano then presented full details of his budget, which is built upon the lower millage rate. He began with a general overview of total revenues and expenditures, explaining that 46% of the income for the Village’s General Fund (operating fund) comes from ad-valorem (property) taxes. For expenditures, Police Services account for the largest portion at 53%, with Parks & Recreation coming in second at 19%.
In addition to the reduced millage rate, other highlights of the budget were:
- A continued focus on community resiliency, which includes the recycling drive, stormwater projects, and a continued push to lower the Village’s CRS, a voluntary federal incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices
- Improvements and enhancements to Village parks including a recreation building at Coral Reef Park, The Woods passive park development, phase 1 of the new Veterans Park, and other capital items from the upcoming Parks Master Plan
- An increase of $250,000 to the Village’s newly-created maintenance fund
- Use of surplus ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) as a hedge against a possible recession or revenue loss in 2023
- A hiring freeze on General Fund current positions pending a mid-year review
Manager Marano stated that revenues for the FY 2023 Budget are estimated to come in approximately $700,000 higher than the adopted budget in FY 2022 at $18,721,566. Total expenditures for FY 2023 are also projected to be higher than the closing fiscal year, but are still well below estimated revenues at approximately $17,951,804. The Manager pointed out that personnel-related costs make up the bulk of those expenditures, adding “The Village employs people and we provide services, which explains those costs.” The Manager reminded the Council that the Village also pumped in more ARPA funds than originally budgeted to complete a number of very important initiatives, including the purchase of a vacuum truck and to fund a well abandonment program.
“We’re taking a very careful and very thoughtful view of where we’re spending our dollars,” the Manager said, promising to deliver the Council a balanced budget that did not include a substantial increase in property taxes. He added that much of the budget was based on feedback from residents, with a heavy focus on fulfilling the needs of the Policing, Parks & Recreation, and Public Services departments. “It’s important to point out that the public workshops, the community survey, and Visioning Session that we held have really set the department directors up to match the budget priorities to what the Village community and the Village Council said they were looking for.”
After the budget presentation, Mayor Cunningham congratulated Manager Marano and Village staff on their work, adding “The single most important thing we can do for the Village is have our fiscal house in order, and I think that’s exactly what you’ve brought to the table.”
The ordinance to set the millage rate at the lower number of 2.35 mills and the ordinance approving the budget for FY 2023 were both passed by Council on first reading. The second reading of each ordinance will happen during the Second Budget Hearing on September 28th, which is when the final millage rate and the final budget will be adopted.
