City, county commissioners give final approval to 2024 budgets, tax hikes

City commissioners voted to increase their property tax rate some 8.5% — with millions in proceeds going to the Tallahassee Police Department — during their final public hearing on their budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

Just as they did during their first hearing earlier this month, commissioners voted 3-2 to approve their $1.12 billion budget and new tax rate. The vote broke down along the usual lines, with Mayor John Dailey and Commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox voting in favor and Commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow voting against.

The city of Tallahassee finalized its budget and tax rates at City Hall a day after Leon County commissioners did the same at the County Courthouse. County commissioners approved their $316 million budget and a tax rate increase of their own, raising the Emergency Medical Services tax 50% for the first time since the county’s ambulance service launched 20 years ago.

County commissioners approved the budget and tax rates unanimously, though funding for Family Promise of the Big Bend and Whole Child Leon was carved out to allow Nick Maddox and Rick Minor to recuse themselves on those items. Maddox is CEO of Family Promise; Minor’s wife does work with Whole Child.

No citizen spoke out during the county’s final hearing. However, several people shared their thoughts and criticism of city commissioners over the tax increase. Malik Gary, 24, said commissioners were “not listening to the people of Tallahassee” who don’t want higher taxes.

“We are hurting,” he said. “I’m a college student. I eat ramen noodles sometimes at night because I don’t have any money. And with the increase in this tax, it’s going to hurt me even more.”

Evan Power, chairman of the Leon County Republican Party, which played an active role in local elections last year, had only one word to say about the tax increase.

"Disgraceful," he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The city’s tax rate will go up from $4.10 to $4.45 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. City officials said typical homeowners would pay $3.50 or less a month. However, commercial properties, including apartments, could see higher bills because they aren’t capped at 3% each year like homesteaded properties.

The higher rate is expected to generate nearly $10 million more in revenue, which is slated to go to TPD for 20 new officers, higher police salaries and advanced technologies like artificial intelligence. Proponents say it’s needed to beef up the force and better address Tallahassee’s long-running gun-violence epidemic and a summer surge in shootings.

Matlow expressed doubt that residents would see only modest increases in property tax bills and noted the city’s analysis didn’t take into account increases at the county. He said the city could have cut items like executive salaries and unessential travel, calling out the annual chamber conference as “just a party at the beach.”

“We spent a year talking about this entire tax increase is about law enforcement,” Matlow said. “But frankly, that’s not true. This tax increase, it’s a sham to tie those two issues together.”

Richardson, Williams-Cox and Porter opted not to opine on the budget and tax rate. Richardson and Williams-Cox previously argued that Tallahassee has only 20 officers on patrol at any given time and needed more to boost their ranks.

Dailey thanked city budget staff for their “hard work and dedication.”

“I think this budget is a good budget,” the mayor said. “I appreciate your hard work, and under the leadership of the city manager, I look forward to moving forward.”

At the county, the general property tax rate will remain the same at $8.3144 for every $1,000 of assessed value while the EMS property tax rate will increase from 50 cents to 75 cents per $1,000 of value. The county's general rate is considered a tax increase because it will raise millions in additional revenue for the county.

Both city and county budgets includes higher fire service fees to cover rising costs at the Tallahassee Fire Department. In the city, fire service fees are going up between 1.08% and 1.5% for residences and between 3.98% and 4.52% for businesses.

In the unincorporated county, residences within five miles of two core fire stations would see annual fees increase from $201 to $245, a 22% jump; residences that are further away from two stations, would see annual fees go from $185 to $223, a rise of 21%. Commercial and industrial properties would see fees increase 34% and 50%, respectively.

In the city, residential trash collection fees are increasing nearly 5%, from $23.62 to $24.78 for curbside service and from $54.17 to $56.82 for premium service. Trash collection rates are going up at the county, too, though that's a result of its new contract with Waste Pro, which was executed before the budget season began.

Contact Jeff Burlew at [email protected] or 850-599-2180.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: City of Tallahassee, Leon County give final OK to budgets, tax hikes