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Courtesy photo. Edgewater Councilwoman Debra Rogers wants her colleagues to cut spending in the new fiscal budget. Edgewater's mill rate in its current operating budget is the highest in Volusia County, followed by Daytona Beach.
EDGEWATER -- Councilwoman Debra Rogers is going against the grain with her colleagues concerning Edgewater's spending for the new fiscal year, especially since the city's current operating budget required the highest tax rate in Volusia County this year.
At this point, the council is going with the 7.1297 mill rate per $1,000 of assessed value in taxes to provide for the new budget, which is the "rollback rate, which raises the same amount of money as the current year, not including new construction.
And that rate was even higher than the 6.9 mills recommended by city Finance Director Jonathan McKinney, who proffered that amount would provide for essential services without impacting services. The city also has in reserve just under $2 million, or 16 percent of its operating budget on hand, well within the 15 to 25 percent mandated by city charter.
The 6.9 mill-rate also includes $69,000 in new construction, McKinney said, which could be applied to the budget.
Stiil, the council opted for the higher rolled-back rate, which, technically is not a tax increase under state law, though that point has been the subject of great debate as communities across Florida deal with plummeting home values.
Edgewater's residential property values have dropped 16 percent, which is why Rogers said she now stands alone as a "voice of reason."
"We need to hold onto what our millage was this year -- 5.9 mills," Rogers said, even if it means cutting services or staff. The city employs 120.
"Everybody else has to cut so why not us?" Rogers asked, noting going with this year's mill rate would drop spending by $892,700.
As for the rolled-back rate, which others on the council said was something they'd consider over the next few weeks leading to public hearings, Rogers dismisses it as a tax increase, nonetheless, because the rolled-back amount is still 20 percent higher than the current year's tax rate.
"It's all a shell game designed to bring in more revenue through taxes," she said. "And we've been pulling from our reserves left and right."
"Based on what we have done this afternoon, we do feel pretty confident that we can come back at less than rolled back, which is something that none of our neighboring cities or even the county has accomplished," McKinney said Tuesday to NSBNEWS.net, reiterating what he told the council the night before.
Mayor Michael Thomas and councilors Ted Cooper and Gigi Bennington voted in favor of the rolled-back rate, saying they could always go down to the staff-recommended rate with further hearings planned. Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes was absent. Rogers was the lone vote against the rolled-back rate, saying even the lower 6.9 mills was too high.
No line items in the propsed budget were made available to the council Monday night, with the intent simply to get a tentative mill rate established. Workshops are scheduled Aug. 10, 24 and 31. Public hearings are planned for Sept. 6 and 28, with the final budget adopted by that latter date.
Besides advertising the rolled-back rate, the council also voted to advertise a rate of $0.3304 per $1,000 of taxable value to pay for construction of the animal shelter, which Rogers described as another financial albatross.