ARCADIA, Fla. — DeSoto County homeowners may see changes to their property tax bills as commissioners consider a 15% increase in public safety fees to help fund fire and emergency medical services.
Many homeowners could see either a slight increase or decrease to their tax bill. On Tuesday, commissioners discussed the rate increase during a budget workshop.
WATCH: FOX 4's Hunter Walterman sits down with Commissioner Elton Langford about a possible fee increase:
Commissioners said they want to decrease the county's millage rate. Millage is a tax rate defined as the dollars assessed for each $1,000 of value, according to the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR). One mill is one dollar per $1,000 of assessed value.
DeSoto County's millage rate was 7.615 in 2024, according to FDOR, putting it on the higher end of Florida counties. Like other rural counties, DeSoto has a smaller tax base, Commissioner Elton Langford said. There is less commercial and industrial land, which can generate more tax revenue.
In 2008, Florida lawmakers created a program that distributes additional aid to "fiscally constrained counties." Those are counties where a 1 mill property tax levy wouldn't raise more than $5 million in annual revenue. DeSoto is one of 31 counties in the state with that designation, according to Florida Senate President Ben Albritton, who represents DeSoto.
Commissioners are considering lowering the millage rate to 6.486. That could lower property tax bills for homes with a higher assessed value. But some homes with a lower taxable value could see a slight increase.
That's because commissioners are considering increasing the public safety fee, which funds DeSoto County Fire and Rescue operations. Commissioners are also considering increases to solid waste and sheriff's office fees. This would increase transparency, a county spokesperson said, by drawing a clearer line between how money is spent.
Right now, the fee doesn't cover all of Fire and EMS operations. The county pulls money of the general revenue fund to help cover costs, County Administrator Mandy Hines said.
County staff presented commissioners with three fee increase options on Tuesday. One would increase fees to the full recovery amount. The others would increase fees by 15% or 10%. Commissioners expressed support for increasing fees by 15%.
Lower-valued homes will be most impacted by any fee increase, according to documents provided by county staff. Commissioners acknowledged that, and expressed a desire to ease the burden on homeowners.
If commissioners adopted the 'full recovery' increase, homes with a taxable value of $29,428 would see property tax go up by $134.68, according to county staff. The 15% fee increase would bump up property tax for the same home by $65.90.
"Even us sitting up here, we pay the taxes just like everybody else," Commissioner Jerod Gross said. "Nobody wants to pay more."
Higher-valued homes could actually see property taxes decrease, even with the higher fees. That's because commissioners are considering a drop in millage rates. A home with a taxable value of $408,412 could see property tax go down by almost $30.
The conversation comes as DeSoto County Fire Rescue experienced increased call volume, Chief Chad Jorgensen said. Over the last three years, the department received about 600 more service calls, according to Jorgensen. It's a post-COVID increase that hasn't let up.
"And that hasn't really gone away," Jorgensen said.
However, the Fire and Rescue budget remains essentially flat for next year, Jorgensen said. DeSoto County helped the department pay for new equipment through state grants, something that Jorgensen said he was grateful for.
It's a balancing act between funding essential services and mitigating the burden on families, Commissioner Elton Langford said.
"I think the consensus of the board today was going with the 15% increase on the user fees," Langford said. "And that gets us a little bit closer to them being where they need to be, but without, you know, just ripping the bandaid off and hurting folks."
The commission will hold another budget workshop on Sept. 8. Commissioners are expected to vote on the budget Sept. 23.
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