After property owners at Charlotte County’s first public budget meeting Sept. 5 spoke of how rising property taxes have become a financial burden, Commissioner Joe Tiseo said the millage rate was reduced after TRIM notices were sent out.
Property owners were sent 2024 Notice of Proposed Property Taxes and Proposed or Adopted Non-Ad Valorem Assessments, showing the millage rate would be 6.1687. The millage rate represents taxes from the county’s general fund.
However, after an August budget meeting, commissioners elected to reduce the millage rate further to 6.0519 mills, a difference of 0.1168, or a 1.89% decrease.
Using one property owner’s TRIM notice, the millage rate of 6.1687 would have resulted in general fund taxes of $2,414.58. Now, the property owner’s general fund portion of the bill will be $46.16 lower, or $2,368.42.
But property tax bills vary in the county. Ad Valorem taxes for the city of Punta Gorda represent about 23% to 25% of its total tax bill, Punta Gorda Assistant City Manager Melissa Reichert after the meeting.
Gordon Burger, director of the county’s Budget and Administrative Services, presented the newly revised $2,278,010,939 budget. The second and final public budget hearing takes place Sept. 18 at the Charlotte County Event and Conference Center in Punta Gorda.
During a July 17 meeting, commissioners approved a $2,282,441,413 budget, which was $4,430,474 more than the current proposed budget.
For some residents, the millage rate decrease is not enough.
During the public portion of the meeting, Jim Kauffman said he’s a retiree on a fixed income and it is a struggle for him to pay his $6,000 property tax bill, about 30% of his Social Security income.
He said his property taxes are $400 more this year and the money could be used for groceries and gas.
“Make do like I do,” Kauffman told the commissioners. “I would ask you to stay out of my pocket. Six thousand dollars is a lot of money. I want to spend my income on myself.”
Todd Radek said his tax bill was $6,900 in 2023 before it was raised to $9,400 this year. It will be more than $10,000 in 2025 if the budget proposal passes, he said.
Although the county can transfer funds and reduce the millage rate to offer taxpayers some relief, certain things cannot be changed.
In a slide presentation, Burger showed which percentages of a dollar go toward county agencies, departments and the Charlotte County School Board.
The school board takes the largest portion of each tax dollar at 41.70% followed by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office at 30.40% of the tax dollar. CCSO includes law enforcement, corrections, court services and the dispatch center.
Other portions of the tax dollar go toward countywide services (18.87%), constitutional budgets (4.30%), Greater Charlotte lighting (1.88%), Southwest Florida Water Management District (1.31%), environmentally sensitive lands (1.29%) and West Coast Inland Navigation (0.25%).
The final public budget hearing takes place at 5 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, 75 Taylor St. in Punta Gorda.
