It's budget season for the New Smyrna Beach City Commission. With that, the Commission is set to make several key decisions about the budget for the next fiscal year, including deciding their maximum property tax rate. That'll be up for consideration at the Tuesday City Commission meeting, as will a slate of 42 unfunded budget requests from different city departments.
These requests range from the relatively inexpensive - just $17,000 for a utility cart - to the ambitious, such as a $2.7 million street light investment. The City Commissioners will be tasked with prioritizing the financial needs of the city, and how much they'll ask residents to subsidize these initiatives with their property taxes.
With budget season underway, City Commissioners will have to decide what makes different items a priority to them. "I look at the community, what's best for the entire community," said Zone 2 Commissioner Lisa Martin. "That's my number one priority, what's best for the safety and quality of life of the community as a whole."
As for property taxes, residential properties make up the vast majority of taxable value within New Smyrna Beach. According to the Volusia County Property Appraiser, 83.59% of the city's taxable property value is residential, compared to 10.01% commercial, 3.00% vacant, and less than one percent each for agricultural, institutional, industrial, and miscellaneous.
The city's finance department is recommending a slight increase in property taxes, from the FY 2023/24 rate of 4.7040 to a FY 2024/25 rate of 4.7284. It would represent an increase of 0.52%, which combined with appreciating property values could lead to residents paying more on their property tax bill. "Doing this is a big hit," Martin continued, "but I also have to be aware of the welfare of those people. How do you balance adding more money for police versus hitting somebody's ability to pay a mortgage? You choose."
The unfunded requests being considered are as follows, sorted by department. All costs are estimated.
