What time of year is it? It’s property tax time !

Sorry to say, but it’s that time of year when tax-paying households (of which there are over 100,000 in Manatee County) face one of their largest annual expenses, i.e., the property tax bill which if paid by November 30 can save you about $200.00 (and lesser amounts thereafter) for a home with a taxable value of about $300,000.

Examining the details of the 2023 statement from the Tax Collector shows that contrary to the past two years, there is no millage reduction for 2023 despite the fact that County surpluses have averaged $175 million annually over the last six years. That is hard to swallow particularly when the YTD surplus through July ‘23 shows another large surplus of $139.1 million.

Sidebar: Why does it take the Clerk’s office until March or April of the following year to publish a final or even an unofficial estimated report (similar to the monthly interim reports) for the budget year ending September 30? Many major publicly traded corporations in this country have their final annual reports in shareholder hands within 30 days after the close of the calendar year.

Looking at school taxes, there was a 0.101 mill reduction from 3.274 to 3.173 per $1,000 of taxable value. Miniscule, but at least the school board’s heart is in the right place.

There was one other millage drop and that was for the Southwest Water Management District which went from .2260 mills to .2043. Is that enough to splurge on a “soft serve” for a family of four at the McDonalds drive thru?

Finally, the tax rate percentage increase championship goes to the West Manatee Fire and Rescue District which does not have a millage rate, but something called a “Unit” which went up 4% from a year ago. Perhaps, there is an Ai algorithm out there that will explain this.

In summary, it’s hard to fathom why millage rates have not gone down more substantially this year, particularly when you look at the $1.7 billion cash pile on Manatee County’s balance sheet that will easily produce an interest rate windfall of over $75 million in fiscal ’24.

Perhaps, the Commissioners can use this windfall to roll back the recently enacted approximate 10% increase in utility bills?

Mike Meehan, CFA, MBA