by David Chapman
Staff Writer
City Council members will vote on an emergency measure Tuesday night to advise the Property Appraiser of a millage rate for the coming fiscal year.
No increase is proposed.
In his budget, Mayor Alvin Brown has proposed rates identical to those in the current fiscal year: 10.0353 mills for the General Services District, 6.7446 for the Beaches and 8.4472 for Baldwin.
A mill is equal to $1 in tax revenue for every $1,000 in assessed value.
Because of continued declining property values, equal rates don’t mean equal return to the City.
The Council Auditor’s Office presented information to the Council Finance Committee on Tuesday that 2010-11 rates returned an estimated $506,689,525 to City coffers while the same rates would yield an estimated $473,405,615 in 2011-12, representing a decline of $33,283,910.
It was the first Finance Committee meeting of the Council year.
The Council must submit a resolution to the Property Appraiser of the maximum anticipated millage rate no later than Aug. 4 to meet state Truth in Millage compliance.
That figure will then be sent to property owners and any increase in the advertised rate would require costly new notices to be sent. Any reduction would not require notice.
Council President Stephen Joost said he doesn’t anticipate discussion of either an increase or decrease during the meeting.
“It’ll be the first time in a number of years,” he said of the lack of an increase.
The state’s “rolled back” rates for 2011-12, according to the auditor’s office memo, would have allowed rates to increase to 10.7688 mills for the General Services District, 7.2074 for the Beaches and 9.2315 for Baldwin, which would have raised an estimated $507,885,351.
The rolled-back rate would keep the tax revenues consistent with the previous year. It is the rate the City would need to levy to keep property tax revenue consistent because of a decline in property values.
Joost said he believes Council will agree with the mayor’s proposed rates, which would mean no rate increase to taxpayers.
A raised millage rate in last year’s budget process was a point of contention among many Council members, which delayed approval of a final budget as members looked for other savings.
With no rate raise this year, Joost said he believes coming to a conclusion on a final budget should be much easier.
A public hearing on the rate is scheduled for Sept. 13.
Also from Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting:
• The meeting kicked off with an appearance by Joost, who asked Finance Committee members to defer an ordinance code waiver to allow the City to put off an actuarial study for the employee pension plans. The City Charter requires such a study annually, while the state requires one every three years. The study would cost $5.7 million and wasn’t submitted as part of Brown’s budget.
Joost asked for the deferral until Council can vote on the pension deal Tuesday. The vote was postponed from the June 28 meeting, the last meeting of the past Council year.
“I believe that issue should be settled first,” said Joost.
The same measure was denied 0-7 in the Rules Committee Monday. Finance Committee Chair Richard Clark honored Joost’s request, but said he had “every intention in two weeks to vote it up or down.”
• A measure regarding City and state incentives for Kaman Aerospace to create 200 jobs was met with criticism from some committee members because of language that 10 percent of those workers must be hired within the Enterprise Zone where the company plans to expand. A separate bill calls for the Enterprise Zone to be extended to include the expansion site.
However, there is no residential development within that proposed zone expansion.
Finance member John Crescimbeni said that “in the spirit of the enterprise zones,” he might entertain a bill that would allow that 10 percent be hired from other enterprise zones.
Finance member Warren Jones shared Crescimbeni’s concerns and agreed with such an amendment.
Joe Whitaker, Jacksonville Economic Development Commission business recruitment and retention coordinator, said the company can guarantee its $28 million investment but is concerned about filling the jobs from a defined geographic area because of the skill levels needed.
“I completely appreciate the difficulty, but if you want the money and you want to do the deal, then that’s part of the deal,” said Clark. “If they’re going to take advantage of the program then we need to abide by the rules of the program.”
The incentives measure passed 5-1, with Finance Committee member Clay Yarborough opposing.
• An ordinance approving a one-time lease amendment to charge the normal fee for closing Sister’s Creek Park for the annual Kingfish Tournament was approved. Typically, the fee is $1,000 a day for each day the park is closed to the public, but under the amendment, the fee is $500 a day for 13 days, or a total of $6,500
The number of entered boats has declined for a number of years, which has affected the tournament fees collected. “This one’s for Jim,” said Crescimbeni, referring to former State Sen. Jim King. “I think he would be here asking us to help the tournament based on how much help he had given that park.” Crescimbeni sponsored the bill, which passed 6-0. “I just think this is the right thing to do,” he said.
• Members approved withdrawal of an ordinance amendment that would have clarified language in the charter for an elected official to simultaneously collect both a salary and a pension from the City. The bill was originally introduced by former Council member Glorious Johnson.
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