Deltonans may see sizable increases in the special charges on their property-tax bills.
As inflation ripples through the economy, the Deltona City Commission has adopted preliminary assessments for the next fiscal year that are markedly higher than those set last year.
Citing the flooding that ravaged the city last fall following hurricanes Ian and Nicole and their heavy rains, a consultant recommended a 25-percent increase in the assessment for stormwater control. The City Commission June 19 adopted the proposed $32 boost in the base charge for stormwater, as suggested by GovRates, a Casselberry consulting firm. That means the stormwater fee will rise from $128 to $160 per standard single-family home, known as an equivalent residential unit, ERU, for short. That ERU covers 3,484 square feet of impervious area, which includes not only the dwelling itself, but also paved spaces such as driveways, walkways, porches, patios and the like.
The higher charge is supposed to yield more than $6 million in revenues to be applied toward the city’s estimated $50 million worth of needed stormwater and drainage improvements.
In addition, GovRates recommended a series of annual increases in Deltona’s stormwater assessment for each of the next fiscal years through 2029. For the 2025 fiscal year, for example, the stormwater fee will escalate to $180, under the plan submitted by GovRates, and other annual step increases will follow. Those increases in stormwater charges, according to city officials, will help avert the flooding that damaged some 250 homes, mostly on Deltona’s northeast side, last fall.
The commission also approved a preliminary assessment for residential solid-waste pickup and disposal by $30.80 per ERU. That is about 15 percent higher than the assessment now in effect. The charge for garbage and trash removal is thus set to rise from $202.80 for the 2022-23 fiscal year now waning to $233.15 per ERU. City officials say the increase is needed to cover the higher charge for disposal of refuse at Volusia County’s Tomoka Landfill. The county government is planning to raise the dumping fee from $34 to $37 per ton of household waste and from $23 to $30 per ton of yard waste, effective Oct. 1.
For those Deltonans who live in well-lighted neighborhoods, the City Commission has set their assessments. Deltona has 138 streetlighting districts, each of which was created by a majority of the residents who signed petitions for the extra service. The yearly per-parcel assessments range from a low of $8 to a high of $785.
Owners of property around Lake McGarity will likely see a special assessment of $60 per lakefront lot for the control of aquatic weeds. That figure is double the rate for the fiscal year now drawing to a close.
The special assessments imposed by the city will appear on the ad valorem tax bills that will be mailed to owners of land, homes or other buildings in Deltona in late October or early November. The charges must be paid in conjunction with the property taxes to avoid delinquency and a possible county-imposed lien on the property, perhaps ultimately resulting in the forced sale of the property to satisfy the tax debt.
The GovRates study cost Deltona $19,000.
Good to see the City of Deltona addressing all that flooding. I hope all my neighbors have taken to time to get some much-needed flood insurance before the next round of flooding.
We had massive flooding that lasted 181 days in our intersection. I’d like to see Deltona actually spend our tax dollars on things like stormwater management rather than multimillion dollar buildings giving tax breaks to those building apartment complexes and eliminating our green spaces. That’s also going to impact our traffic, garbage output, increase flooding, and continue to cost the current residents more tax money. We already pay several thousand for homeowners insurance and now Deltona wants to spend money from those who can’t afford it.