Port St. Lucie again lowers tax rate, but taxes still likely to go up for most homeowners

PORT ST. LUCIE — The city unveiled its initial budget and tax plans Monday, which show property taxes will go up for most property owners.

The city tax rate is to drop for the ninth consecutive year, to 5.055 mills, but that rate is projected to lead to an increase in taxes collected because of increased property values. In those nine years, the rate has been lowered by 1.5739 mills.

The rate would exceed the roll-back rate — the rate that would bring in the same revenue as the previous year — by 7.82%.

For property owners, the 5.055 rate is expected to comprise about 21% of the overall tax bill, with other taxes going to the county, fire district, school district and other entities. Property owners can see a full breakdown of their upcoming taxes on the TRIM — or Truth in Millage — notices that were mailed to them.

The budget, tentatively set at $851,042,015, is an increase of $147,715,566, or nearly 20%, from the previous year, despite the millage going down again. It would provide for hiring 60 full-time employees, including 15 officers and five civilians at the Police Department, which city leaders say is necessary to keep up with rapid population growth.

The budget and millage will require a second vote for final approval, scheduled for Sept. 23.

As in past years, members of the City Council praised the city's efforts to reduce the tax rate. Port St. Lucie, city staff pointed out, has the third-lowest city tax rate among Florida's 20 largest cities.

Councilman Anthony Bonna said when he was first elected in 2021 the city accounted for about 24% of the overall tax bill, roughly 3% higher than today. Other entities, like the county, school district and fire district, have not reduced their rates as far as Port St. Lucie has, Bonna said.

"Relative to the other taxing authorities in this county, the city of Port St. Lucie continues to address this issue," Bonna said.

As part of the budget, the city passed a capital-improvement plan that includes $52 million for widening Floresta Drive, $21.4 million for Torino Regional Park and $6.5 million for Tradition Regional Park, among other multimillion-dollar projects.

The millage rate, budget and capital-improvement plan each passed unanimously. Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan was absent.

More: St. Lucie County to decrease tax rate, but property taxes likely to go up for most people

More: Port St. Lucie eyes increases to stormwater, garbage rates, hearings and votes yet to come

Also Tuesday, the council approved increases to the city's stormwater and garbage collection fees. The garbage collection, disposal and recycling rate will go up by $13.77 per household, while the storm water fee will go up by $5.

The increases are necessary because of the city's growth and inflation, councilmembers said.

For storm water, the city had a consultant perform an analysis of the system's needs and what rate would be needed to address them.

"The reality is, if we don't address our storm water needs — and we had an outside entity look at what we needed to charge to adequately deliver this service — then the whole system is going to break down, and we don't want that," Bonna said.

For garbage collection, annual fee increases based on inflation metrics are built into the city's contract with FCC Environmental Services. That stipulation was added because the previous provider did not increase rates enough and ultimately was left unable to deliver the service. That provider, Waste Pro, and the city are currently locked in a legal battle over the company halting garbage collection before the city entered an emergency contract with FCC.

Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Port St. Lucie sets tentative millage decrease, big budget increase