Volusia County adopts $1.06 billion budget, new tax rates
DELAND — It took just 19 minutes Tuesday night for Volusia County Council members to adopt the new budget and property tax rates that will be used in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
The overall operating budget tallies $1.06 billion. That's a $39 million rise from last year's budget of $960.99 million.
The largest portion of that new fiscal plan is the $374.3 million General Fund, which helps to finance services provided countywide.
The General Fund is the main source of revenue for the Sheriff's Office, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections and Clerk of Court. The General Fund also provides money for Beach Safety, the Volusia County Branch Jail, Medical Examiner's Office, Emergency Management, Fire Services, Emergency Medical Services, Community Redevelopment Agencies and various community programs.
The new budget contains funds for 55 new positions, 41 of them in public safety jobs.
The Council also approved next year’s rates for the nine property tax funds controlled by the county. Five of the nine tax rates are dropping to the rolled-back rate, the rate that would generate the same amount of revenue as the current charge using the new assessments of the same properties.
The four other county government property tax rates, which include the voter-approved Volusia Forever and Volusia ECHO levies, will remain unchanged but they will likely raise more money since property values have risen.
Read more about Volusia County's new budget: What's in Volusia County's proposed $1.06 billion budget? Let's take a look.
Learn about Palm Coast's new budget: Palm Coast to make final vote on increasing property taxes on Wednesday
While Council members unanimously approved the new spending plan and tax rates quickly Tuesday evening, they had spent many hours this year talking about budget matters during at least 17 previous County Council meetings.
"This is a reflection of, I believe, how we did it this year – starting in January and spending a year doing the heavy lifting and the hard work," County Chair Jeff Brower said after Tuesday night’s vote. "Well done."
County Manager George Recktenwald agreed.
"Thank you, Mr. Chair and the Council, for working with us through the year, as you mentioned, to be able to put together a budget that I think is very responsible and responsive to our citizens,” said Recktenwald. "We’ll go on out and carry forward and have a great year."
What are Volusia's new tax rates?
The General Fund property tax rate, now set at $4.85 for every $1,000 of taxable value, has gone down five years in a row and will be the lowest it’s been in nearly 15 years.
The other county property taxes also going to the rolled-back rate are the library fund, the Municipal Services District, the Ponce De Leon Port Authority and the Silver Sands Bethune Beach Municipal Services District. While all taxpayers pay into the county’s General Fund, library fund and Volusia ECHO and Volusia Forever funds, a property’s location determines whether any of the other tax funds apply.
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County Council OKs $1.06 billion budget, lowers some tax rates
