BROWARD COUNTY – Broward County Commissioners refused to raise the millage property tax rate Tuesday night, which means another $41.6 million in budget cuts will have to be made in order to force property taxes lower and keep the property tax rate the same as it is now.
Commissioners rejected a proposed FY 2011 budget that would have raised the millage rate 5.3 percent from the year before. Even with the slight increase, property taxes would have been reduced by $56 million and 65 percent of Broward County homeowners would have seen their County property taxes decrease by $97 to $130 or the stay the same. Longtime homestead property homeowners with Save Our Homes would have seen an estimated increase in County property taxes of $54.
The majority of Commissioners declined that proposed budget and told County Administrator Bertha Henry to go back to the drawing board to find additional cuts, including cuts that will have to come from the Broward Sheriff’s Office budget and that of the other Constitutional Officers.
Broward County Commissioners have reduced property taxes four years in a row. Tuesday night, they delayed setting a new property tax millage rate until September 28th when a second public budget hearing is set. At that time, a tentative budget may be passed with a hearing scheduled on October 5 to finalize the FY 2011 budget. Commissioners said they may agree to an increase in the millage rate that is less than the proposed 5.3 percent and includes additional budget cuts. Their overall preference, though, is to keep the millage rate the same as it is now at 4.889.
