Polk Commission Gives Preliminary Approval to $1.7 Bil. Budget

BARTOW | The Polk County Commission gave preliminary approval Thursday to a $1.7 billion budget.

Approval came following public hearings on the adoption of the various parts of next year's budget and the tax rates. No one from the public spoke for or against any of the proposals.

A final public hearing and vote on the budget is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the county administration building in Bartow.

The proposed budget, a decrease from this year's $1.8 billion budget, includes a slight decrease in the property tax rate, dropping from $6.89 to $6.87 per $1,000 of taxable value for property inside cities and from $7.52 to $7.49 for property in unincorporated areas of the county.

That rate is lower than the rate the Legislature would have authorized because of the unprecedented decrease in the county tax base caused by collapse of the real estate boom and accompanying decline in construction.

The legislative formula would have allowed commissioners to raise the tax rates to $6.99 and $7.65 per $1,000 taxable, respectively.

That lower tax rate, coupled with the doubling of the homestead exemption from $25,000 to $50,000, will mean lower taxes for many property owners.

The lower budget means the general fund, the portion that pays for day-to-day operations, dropped from $399.9 million this year to $361.1 million. With that came the elimination of 86 positions from the county payroll and consolidation of departments and county administration.

Polk County's 2,199 employees will not receive cost-of-living raises next year, but may receive raises of up to 3.5 percent, based on their annual evaluations. However, the budget will continue capital projects that are funded by a combination of property taxes, gas taxes, user fees and impact fees.

Those projects include the expansion of the county jail, continued road improvements and the construction of new fire stations.

Commissioner Randy Wilkinson, who has often voted against previous budget proposals, asked whether there was a way to further reduce spending. "Next year will be a bear and so will the year after that," he said.

Commissioner Jean Reed said commissioners can make changes when they consider the budget a final time next week. But Commissioner Jack Myers noted that commissioners will not be able to increase the tax rate at that hearing.

[ Tom Palmer can be reached at 863-802-7535 or tom.palmer@theledger.com. His blog on county government is at county.theledger.com. ]