Dissecting the annual property tax bill - part of which Governor DeSantis wants to eliminate (County, but not school taxes) is always a tedious process best left to those who enjoy stuff like weeding the lawn or timing the wait times for traffic lights on Manatee Avenue. If you are so inclined, read on, but don't call me for help on your lawn.
Summarized briefly, the not-so-big news is the County millage cut from 4.6442 mills per a $ thousand dollars of property valuation to 4.5942 mills per thousand. Assuming a $300,000 property valuation, this works out to a property tax reduction of $15.00 which will get you an excellent rib-eye sandwich plus fries at the newly re-opened Boiler Room on Manatee Avenue. But, because the “Save our Home” increase was 2.9%, assessed value went up $8700.00 leading to a net property tax increase of $ 28.50. So, in the interest of household economy, you should probably forget the Boiler Room and head out to Wal-Mart for a delicious, but cheaper take-out rotisserie chicken.
Looking at the individual taxing categories, most of the increases or decreases were negligible on a percentage basis with the exception of the West Manatee Fire District charge which was up a decidedly anti- property tax Governor DeSantis amount of 7.3%. Don't know what the Fire Department Board is thinking with this above average increase, but I should probably attend a Fire District meeting to see if it can be rolled into the County for cheaper administration. Since 2019, the non ad-valorem assessment percentage increase for the Fire District has averaged 4.7% per year and has far outpaced the 2% or less percentage increase for the County ad-valorem taxing districts.
Speaking of spending, it might interest you to know that spending at the Federal level was up 4.1% for fiscal '25, State of Florida spending was down 4.3% from the prior fiscal year, and Manatee County spending for the first ten months of fiscal '25 (hold onto your checkbook) is up 24%! You read that right, spending has increased from $953 million to $1.182 billion for the fiscal year to date (July '25). Has your standard of living improved by 24% this year? If not, consider attending a County meeting to ask the Commissioners why they are sitting on an unrestricted cash pile of $790.2 million and not refunding it to taxpayers in the form of a variable tax credit against the property taxes you are about to pay this December.
Mike Meehan, CFA, MBA
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lib224
You'd hope that with all the Republicans in charge, that there would be better control of spending. They need to adopt a zero-based budgeting approach in which each department has to start out with zero dollars and then justify the spending of every cent beyond that. It's a continual process that takes a lot of time and effort by the board and staff, but it is worth it for taxpayers.
Sunday, November 16, 2025 Report this