Manatee Budgets 101: City of Palmetto

PALMETTO – The City of Palmetto has one of the highest decreases in appraised property values in Manatee County, according to city officials.

What this translates into is a drop in city revenues, particularly in the funds that pay salaries and benefits. Already, the city has laid off seven people last year to balance its budget.

While other municipalities may see a 9 to 12 percent decline, Palmetto faces a 17.85 percent decline in property tax revenues next year, said Jim Freeman, the city clerk. Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant say the drop may be higher, at about 19 percent. The housing market bust affected property values tremendously, she said.

”With what we have last year and started out with the year before, it has gotten worse and worse,“ said Palmetto Commissioner Brian Williams. ”Even though you hear things are getting betterÉ you still have businesses failing and homes don’t get paid for and it dominoes. So it is affecting everybody.“

The city’s general fund budget is estimated at $9.1 million for next year, out of a $23.7 million total budget that includes capital and community redevelopment agency expenses.

If Palmetto continues to levy last year’s millage, it would face a $735,000 deficit, Freeman said.

So far, a preliminary round of proposed cuts took care of about $435,000, which leaves about $300,000 more to be slashed. This proposal excludes the roll back revenue or raised utilities fees, Freeman said.

”We’re still working through that. We still have to make adjustments,“ he said.

If the city decides to roll back the millage rate, or levying a rate that would generate revenue similar to last year's, then the deficit would be lower, at $208,976, according to city documents.

Still, Bryant said she has not decided whether to recommend the roll back to city commissioners.

"It’s hard. As usual, health costs go up and retirement benefits go up," she said. "We still have to provide the same level of services. We try already to reduce costs. In this process, we don’t have to do another reduction of force, but it’s looking that way."

Like other municipalities, personnel costs take up the largest chunk of the city’s general funds, Freeman said. Currently, the city has about 131 full-time and part-time employees, including city commissioners who are paid about $7,000 a year.

To offset the cuts, city may consider layoffs, freezing salaries, or employees may see their health insurance premiums rise. There are still nine positions in the city that have not been filled yet, and five of those may be nixed, according to city documents.

”We haven’t started the budget discussions yet, and those will begin near the end of July,“ Freeman said.

However, the roll back rate may be discussed at a July 19 meeting, he added. City commissioners will have to adopt a tentative millage (PDF, 289 KB) to be included in trim notices. The final millage may not be adopted until September.

”Once they set the preliminary millage, (the final millage may) go down, but cannot go up,“ Freeman said. ”Historically, the commission has always set a millage that is a little higherÉ but it always went down for the final adoption.“

Download: Assumptions for 2011 Budget - City of Palmetto, FL