SPEAKING OUT — A number of Deltona residents spoke at the Deltona City Commission meeting Sept. 6 to oppose rising property taxes. Above, Stephanie Cox shows off her sign demanding, “FULL ROLLBACK NOW!” The rollback tax rate, or the millage rate that would get the city the same amount of tax money it collected last year, wouldn’t be as big of a hit to residents’ pocketbooks.
Despite pleas not to raise Deltona’s property-tax rate, the City Commission Sept. 6 voted unanimously to raise the ad valorem levy for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year.
The commission must approve the millage on second reading and with a final public hearing before it actually becomes effective.
Meeting in a special session to consider the new budget and property-tax rate to support it, the commission heard homeowners’ objections to higher tax bills.
“If I can cut my budget with my fixed income, you can cut yours,” Stephanie Cox told the elected body.
“I’ve had to cut out cable [television service],” Carolyn Hickerson said. “I’ve done everything I can to tighten my belt. … Find out where you can make some cuts.”
“I feel like we need to go to rollback,” Gloria Ford said.
Members of the City Commission responded by telling the speakers that Deltona needs more cash to help recover from last year’s hurricanes and to deal with the widespread inflationary pressures.
“It’s hurting us all,” Commissioner Jody Lee Storozuk said, referring to inflation.
“Our millage rate is currently 7.6,” he said, though the city’s actual property-tax rate is 7.65 mills. “I would love to do a full rollback. … We’re trying to cut costs.”
Vice Mayor Anita Bradford said Deltona needs more ad valorem tax revenue to make up for shortages in other public services.
“We’re bringing down our general fund to cover shortfalls in stormwater and solid waste,” she told critics. “We’re still having to transfer money.”
Facing a skeptical crowd in the meeting chambers Aug. 7, the City Commission rejected proposed increases in the special assessments for household trash disposal and for stormwater control. The refusal to raise those annual charges, which must be paid in conjunction with the property taxes, will save the average Deltona homeowner about $62.
“I don’t want a tax increase. I don’t want to pay more taxes,” Bradford added.
To stave off the previously planned increases in the fees for trash pickup and stormwater-runoff systems, Commissioner Maritza Avila-Vazquez likewise said “a major transfer of $2 million” would have to come from the city’s general fund to prevent a loss of vital public services.
“We have projects that need to be done,” Commissioner Dana McCool said, referring to proposed stormwater improvements and continued drainage woes in some parts of Deltona.
“Are we OK with saying important projects will be put on hold?” Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. said.
The City Commission subsequently voted 7-0 to adopt the tentative 2023-24 budget.
With a like vote, the commission tentatively approved a property-tax rate of 7.35 mills, or $7.35 per thousand dollars of taxable value. That figure is down from the 7.65-mill levy in effect for the 2022-23 fiscal year now drawing to a close. The new proposed rate is, however, 8.8 percent higher than the rollback rate of 6.75 mills, and thus it is a tax increase, as property values have risen over the past year.
The City Commission will conduct the second and final public hearing and take a final vote on the new budget and property-tax rate at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, at Deltona City Hall, 2345 Providence Blvd. The meeting is open to the public.
That budget totals some $210.3 million. The general fund, the portion of the budget that includes fire protection, emergency-medical services, parks and recreation, code enforcement, and the operation of most municipal offices, amounts to $74 million. The balance of the budget, approximately $136 million, includes the water and sewer utilities, stormwater and solid-waste funds, transportation improvements and special accounts for state and federal revenues given to the city.
In the course of the Sept. 6 meeting, one Deltonan, Elbert Bryan, slammed city officials for not providing for public review a detailed copy of the new budget, as was done in past years.
“There are no line items there. This is a joke. It is a summary,” he said.
Earlier this summer, Interim City Manager Jim Chisholm provided a short breakdown of his proposed spending for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, but copies of that were not available at the Sept. 6 meeting.
Deltona Finance Director Mari Leisen said the budget, “300 pages,” is on the city government’s website. However, when The Beacon attempted to find the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, she said that budget has not yet been printed, and the city’s most recent full-volume spending document is the one for the current fiscal year.
