Deltonans plead for relief

BEACON PHOTO/AL EVERSON
Asks for relief — Deltona resident Dawn Trent speaks to the Deltona City Commission.

By Al Everson
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Sep 17, 2009 - 9:14:17am

Homeowners’ pleas for relief from rising expenses in a difficult economic time were followed by testy words from Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder — and cautions against expecting better conditions in the year ahead.

“How can you justify the increase in our taxes?” Janice Dudley asked the City Commission. “Foreclosures are popping up everywhere, and the City of Deltona to make up for the loss of revenue on the backs of those who still have a home.”

After the first of two public hearings on the proposed 2009-10 budget, the Deltona City Commission Sept. 8 narrowly approved a 31-percent boost in the property-tax rate.

“Where can we cut this budget?” Mulder pressed colleagues who urged spending reductions.

“I don’t think we have done enough to help people in this community,” Commissioner Zenaida Denizac said.

“Tell me where you would cut,” Mulder demanded, with frustration evident in his voice.

The commission voted 4-3 to raise the ad valorem tax rate from 4.15 mills to 5.44 mills, but not before trying the mayor’s patience. The new tax rate would be $5.44 per thousand dollars of taxable property value.

The proposed levy is also the rollback rate, meaning it is supposed to yield property-tax revenues equal to those of the fiscal year now ending.

In normal times, the rollback rate declines as property values rise year by year. In the current era, as property values plummet, the rollback rate rises.

Although the rollback rate is supposed to be revenue-neutral, many homeowners this year are seeing their taxes rise because a tax benefit known as Save Our Homes will not protect them against steep drops in their home values.

Save Our Homes, an amendment to the Florida Constitution capping annual increases in homestead assessments at no more than 3 percent, does not head off increases in tax bills.

“I can no longer afford it. I can no longer afford to pay my taxes,” resident Dawn Trent told the commission, as she described her problem in securing a tenant for a rental home. “I should be able to rent it for $2,000 a month. I can’t rent it for $900, and it’s on a lake.”

Peter Armstrong, a retiree from Long Island, said “taxes are eating me up.”

Armstrong said, “My Social Security that I was hoping to buy food with, I’m giving in taxes.”

In her budget message, City Manager Faith Miller wrote she had already achieved some savings by cutting 22 positions, either by attrition or by eliminating vacant slots. Yet, the homeowners’ statements weighed on a faction of the City Commission.

Commissioners rejected the idea of cutting law enforcement and fire services. They also were reluctant to cut other municipal payrolls.

“I really do feel your pain,” Commissioner Janet Deyette told the audience.

Deltona’s long-standing reputation as a bedroom community for the Greater Orlando area is hurting those who call Deltona home, Finance Director Bob Clinger noted.

“What you have here is the consequence of no commercial development,” Clinger told the commission. “We have the population. We have the need for services. We just don’t have the tax base.”

Though Deltona is the biggest city in Volusia County, it lacks such tax-generating facilities as industrial parks, large shopping centers and major-name auto dealerships.

Deltona has been battered by the foreclosure crisis. Approximately 10 percent of the homes in Deltona are in foreclosure. The house-heavy city generated about $12 million in property-tax revenues in the fiscal year now ending, and the higher levy is supposed to produce a like sum.

Deltona’s tax base, according to data compiled by the Volusia County Property Appraiser’s Office, dropped from almost $3.1 billion in 2008 to approximately $2.4 billion this year — a shrinkage of almost 23 percent.

As debate about the budget and taxation continued, Mulder wondered if the 2009-10 budget would gain tentative — and final — approval.

“What happens if we don’t pass this budget?” Mulder asked Acting City Attorney James “Skip” Fowler. “Suppose we don’t tax people because it’s crazy.”

Fowler said the proposed ad valorem levy “would revert back to last year’s rate.”

Thus, the tax rate would remain at 4.15 mills — and Deltona could expect to receive about $3 million less in property-tax revenues than it collected during the outgoing fiscal year.

Mulder’s fears were assuaged, when Commissioners Michael Carmolingo, Michele McFall-Conte and Paul Treusch joined him in approving the budget and tax rate. Commissioners Denizac, Deyette and Herb Zischkau voted against the fiscal package.

The second and final public hearing and binding vote on Deltona’s budget and its ad valorem levy are set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, at the City Hall, 2345 Providence Blvd.

— al@beacononlinenews.com

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