No increases to property tax rates in proposed budget
Posted On: July 11, 2023
On Tuesday, July 11, the Volusia County Council continued the annual budget adoption process for the upcoming fiscal year by setting the preliminary tax rates required to support the county's operations in the fiscal year 2023-24. Notably, the proposed tax rates include a rate reduction for four property tax-supported funds in the county, while the others remained unchanged from the previous year's rates.
Furthermore, a development for the upcoming fiscal year is the introduction of the Public Safety Fund. As part of the budget preparation, the current General Fund property tax levy will be divided into two segments: the General Fund property tax and the Public Safety fund property tax. The latter will serve as the funding source for the Volusia Sheriff's Office.
The combination of a 3.3958 mills General Fund property tax rate and a 1.4541 mills Public Safety Fund rate results in a total rate of 4.8499 mills for the upcoming year, equivalent to the previous fiscal year's rate for the General Fund.
In addition to the General Fund, the preliminary rates include a tax rate reduction (rollback) in the Library Fund, the Ponce DeLeon Port Authority, the Municipal Service District (MSD) and the Silver Sands Bethune Beach MSD. Also, the tax rates for the Fire Rescue District, the East Volusia Mosquito Control District, and the voter-approved ECHO and Volusia Forever programs will remain unchanged from the previous year.
The vote clears the way for the Property Appraiser's Office to send out the annual Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices to property owners next month, informing them about the proposed tax rates for all taxing authorities in Volusia County. While the adopted tax rates could be lowered at a later date, they may not be increased.
Per Florida Tax Watch, Volusia County, even as the twelfth most populated county in the state, ranks 55th out of 66 counties, with a per capita revenue of $1,390.25, notably lower than the statewide average of $2,223.20.
The recommended operating budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 stands at $1.19 billion, with the General Fund portion for countywide services proposed at $289.2 million after netting out operating transfers. The proposed budget in its entirety may be viewed at https://www.volusia.org.
The County Council will finalize the budget and tax rates through a series of public hearings scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 5 and 19. Both meetings will be held in the County Council Chambers at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center, 123 W. Indiana Ave., DeLand.
