A good start for Brown

“My hope is that this is a continuation of things to come in the future and that we really take a look at how we manage the city from a fiscal perspective and that we do employ some fiscal restraint in a lot of the programs we would like to implement.” — Marlon Brown, Sarasota city manager

This is a good start. It is encouraging to see Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown present his first budget with a recommended reduction in the city’s millage rate. And equally encouraging to read that he is pledging to “employ some fiscal restraint” at City Hall.

That would be a welcome change.

Brown’s first budget actually is out of the norm. It’s rare when city managers, county administrators or school superintendents turn down easy money. By that we mean it’s rare when one of them proposes the rollback millage rate be used in the next budget.

The rollback rate is the property-tax rate that would be used in the next fiscal year to generate the same amount of property-tax revenue as in the current fiscal year — excluding the value of new tax revenue from construction.

Typically, city and county managers like to announce they are keeping the millage rate the same and say they are not raising taxes. That’s partially true. In many instances, while a homeowner’s tax rate stays the same, the homeowner’s property value increases from year to year. So even though city managers tout they are holding the rate steady, because homeowners’ taxable value rose, they will pay more in taxes.

So, good for Brown. Although it might turn out some city residents and building owners will pay more in property taxes next year, there will be many who will not because of the rollback rate. He is proposing to lower the millage rate from 3.2632 to 3.1372, a 4% decrease.

Likewise, it’s encouraging to know city commissioners are in agreement with Brown.

Another good step and start for Brown: He wants to dissolve the city’s parks and recreation taxing district.

Brown’s predecessor, Tom Barwin, was one of the leading advocates for creating a new taxing district to fund city park improvements. Although the City Commission approved the new district in 2019, commissioners were unable to impose a new tax because it required a unanimous vote.

We opposed the tax district from the start, arguing that park maintenance should come out of the general fund the same way other operating expenses do — such as public safety. Or to put it another way, special tax districts are a cop-out for elected officials. They help commissioners avoid having to make tough choices with limited amounts of money (See ‘“We knew they would do it”). What’s more, it’s rare when you see such tax districts disappear or lower their rates.

Although Brown and his city colleagues still have much to address with the city’s fiscal management, with Brown’s first budget, perhaps taxpayers can mark fiscal 2022 as the start of a trend and a tradition dedicated to strong fiscally conservative and responsible governing.