Longboat sets maximum millage for fiscal year 2025

Longboat Key town commissioners voted on June 28 to set the maximum millage for the upcoming fiscal year 2025, which will remain similar to the previous fiscal year. 

So far in the budget process, commissioners participated in two workshops that outlined the town’s expected capital and operating expenditures, as well as revenues. One of the primary sources of revenue for the town is property tax revenue, which is influenced by the millage rate set by the town. 

Town Manager Howard Tipton began the presentation on June 28 by explaining that, after the commission approves a maximum millage, it can’t be increased without notifying the public. 

Prior to the June 28 meeting, the town’s Finance Department was using estimated property values to shape the FY25 budget. Then the department received the certified values from the county property appraisers, which showed an increase. 

The June 1 estimates showed a combined increase of 9.61% between Sarasota and Manatee counties. Individually, there was expected to be a 7.78% increase in Sarasota County values and a 13.67% increase in Manatee County values. This would have resulted in an additional $1,481,016 in revenue compared to FY24. 

The July 1 certified values showed a greater increase. Those numbers showed an increase of 10.39% combined between the counties — an 8.55% increase in Sarasota County and 14.47% increase in Manatee County. 

“Any time you have double-digits is a good year,” Budget Manager Sandi Henley said. “So we're very happy about that.”

The certified values will result in $1,580,544 in additional revenue compared to FY24, and an extra $99,528 that the town hadn’t accounted for when estimating the values. 

For the upcoming fiscal year, staff recommended setting the maximum millage at 1.9600. The same millage was assessed in the previous fiscal year. The rate can be decreased at the next hearing in September, but not increased. 

Other millage rates for facilities and beach projects add to the overall millage for property owners. Both of those rates go toward debt payments on revenue bonds. 

The beach millage decreased slightly from FY24 to FY25. For Gulfside residents, the millage went down from 0.6672 to 0.6071. For Bayside residents, the change was 0.1668 to 1.1518. The town is anticipating a FY25 beach debt service payment of $3,577,750, according to Henley’s report. 

That, along with a 0.0401 millage for general obligation debt, brings the total millage to 2.6072 for Gulfside residents and 2.1519 for Bayside residents. 

District 1 Commissioner Gary Coffin voiced his opinion on the millage, which was on the side of increasing the town's millage rate to help pay for things like additional staff positions that were requested by department heads. 

Two fire rescue personnel, three new police officers, a geographic information system analyst and a town engineer were among the full-time positions requested by department heads. Tipton’s FY25 budget included the recommendation for a town engineer and to elevate a part-time position with the Tennis Department to a full-time position. 

“It seems like money is never enough to do what we need to do,” Coffin said. “In order to provide the community that I think we want to provide, I think we should look at raising millage rates as opposed to keeping them the same.”

Coffin said, from his observations, not many residents show up to challenge the millage rate, and raising it slightly would allow the town to take on some of the full-time positions, as well as move forward with projects like park improvements. 

“All we're trying to do is make things better. How do we improve our parks, how do we build training facilities, how do we add staff if we don’t increase our millage rate to do that?" Coffin said.

To include all the requested full-time positions, an additional $975,815 would be needed. While Tipton put forward the hypothetical, he was clear that he did not recommend that all the positions were necessary. 

Coffin suggested raising the millage to 1.990. For example, for a homesteaded property valued at $1 million, that would be an increase of $144.44 annually. 

Commissioner-At-Large BJ Bishop said that taxpayers are financially strained by other sources, like insurance rates, and that imposing a higher tax would be another burden. 

“But the bottom line, for me, is, we have a town manager and directors who work diligently on setting and establishing what they believe is a responsible budget to bring to us,” Bishop said. “If there was something they felt strongly about, they would have put it in this budget, and they didn’t. From the standpoint that I look to the tow manager to set the goals and set up a budget that is reasonable and responsive to the needs, not the wants, but the needs of this community, I think that’s what we have in front of us.”

Coffin assured that he wasn’t questioning the ability of the staff to craft the budget, and was just raising the discussion to get more things done around the town. Other commissioners seemed more in favor of keeping the millage static, and the maximum millage of 1.9600 passed 5-0.