CITY WATCH Commission sets tentative tax rate

Should the city keep its tax rate low, or should the rate rise to fund maintenance at city properties? The Ormond Beach City Commission is leaning toward the latter option.

On Tuesday, July 18, the commission voted 4-1 to set the tentative millage rate at 4.0060 mills for fiscal year 2023-2024, or about $4 for every $1,000 of taxable property value.

Ormond Enclave gets city’s OK

The City Commission also unanimously approved two rezoning amendments and a development order for the Ormond Enclave development, to become new multifamily apartments between Dix Avenue and Highland Avenue.

JARLEENE ALMENAS SENIOR EDITOR

121 East condos approved

The Ormond Beach City Commission unanimously approved a 24-unit condominium development for 121 E. Granada Blvd. at its meeting on Tuesday, July 18.

The 121 East development will be composed of one- to three-bedroom units in a five-story building, with parking underneath on the ground floor, at the 0.76acre beachside parcel. The commission approved both a development order and a rezoning for the property from “B-4 Central Business” to a Planned Business Development.

Commissioner Harold Briley, who mentioned that he was part of the Downtown Revitalization Taskforce in 1993-1994, said 121 East is the exact type of development the district is seeking.

“Actually, when I saw this, I got kind of excited about it,” Briley said.

The commission agreed.

“I think this is an epic project for Ormond Beach,”

Commissioner Susan Persis said. “It’s exciting to have this new kind of housing for our residents to possibly buy.”

The development is consistent with the city’s Downtown Master Plan, she added.

While the tentative millage is 4.16% above the current fiscal year’s tax rate, the commission opted for the rate increase so the city can dedicate $500,000 to Leisure Services capital projects and add $300,000 to the city’s Facilities Renewal and Replacement fund, which funds maintenance at city-owned facilities.

Mayor Bill Partington voted against the tentative millage rate, saying the proposed tax rate — which is 13.71% above rollback, the rate needed to generate the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year — was too burdensome for the city’s financially constrained citizens, particularly given that he wasn’t sure which Leisure Services projects would utilize the funding.

“Everybody has tons of additional things that they want to do,” Partington said. “And that’s our hard job — is to prioritize and balance that against available resources, keeping in mind the senior citizen that is single and living by herself on a fixed income and has to pay for her medicines.”

Partington favored adopting the tentative tax rate proposed by city staff of 3.8410 mills — which, while 8.94% above rollback, was 0.13% lower than the current fiscal year’s millage rate.

The proposed rate increase, to cost the average taxpayer $62.04 more next year, was recommended by the city’s Budget Advisory Board, whose members felt the city needs to begin financially addressing maintenance that has fallen to the wayside over the years.

The Facilities Renewal and Replacement Fund is allocated about $500,000 tax dollars every fiscal year, and the city uses all of the money. In fiscal year 2021-2022, the city went over $220,000 over budget.

Budget Advisory Board Chair John Olivari said there was “no honor” in keeping the city’s tax rate as the second-lowest in Volusia County. The city of DeBary has the lowest tax rate.

“We’re behind the eight ball, and the longer we wait on any of these additions, it’s going to be that much harder to get us out of the hole,” Olivari said.

Commissioners Lori Tolland, Travis Sargent and Harold Briley agreed with the board’s recommendation, all mentioning the maintenance needs of the baseball fields at Nova Community Center.

Commissioner Susan Persis was supportive too, but said she wanted to explore a lower rate before the budget is adopted in September, once a list of projects comes before the board.

“I don’t want to kick the can down the street, because we need to do something — clearly,” Persis said.

Tolland referenced the city’s recently updated Parks and Recreation Master Plan, noting that 69.5% of surveyed residents said they would be willing to pay $12-$16 a year to fund Leisure Services programs.

“I think it’s absolutely the right time to move the needle and be proactive,” she said.

Sargent said he felt the city’s budget of $118.6 million (calculated before the higher tax rate) this year was about catching up with needs.

“We have almost a million dollars for upgrading equipment, the website,” he said. “That’s almost a million that we’re budgeting for items that are 30 years old.”

Yes, it’s a tax rate increase, Briley said.

“But it’s also an investment in our facilities to keep them to the standard our residents have come to expect,” Briley said.

The development, formerly known as “The Courtyards at Ormond Beach,” will be located at a 6.34-acre property at 145 N. Yonge St., next to the existing Dollar General. The apartments will have 64 units.

This approval comes four years after the commission approved three comprehensive plan amendments for the property to allow the construction of 48 units and a 10,889-squarefoot commercial building. After feedback from neighbors, the developer — CST Holdings, LLC — decided to eliminate the commercial portion of the development and build 16 more units instead.

Mayor Bill Partington thanked the developer for listening to residents to bring back a better project that will benefit the nearby downtown district. “We already have a walkable downtown with a lot more people than we’ve ever had, and this is just going to add to that,” he said.

By The Numbers

3.4525 mills is the rollback rate.

The tentative millage is almost 14% higher.

Email Senior Editor Jarleene Almenas at Jarleene@ observerlocalnews.com.

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