By Cindy Jackson
Reporter
July 27, 2021
The Nassau County Board of Commissioners met Monday, July 26, 2021. The meeting began promptly at 6:00 PM and went to 10 PM in what may be the longest running session in recent history.
Part of the reason the meeting was so lengthy could be explained by the delivery of two very comprehensive presentations relating to the proposed FY 2021-2022 budget as delivered by County Manager Taco Pope and Assistant County Manager Marshall Eyerman.
A tentative budget must be delivered to the Board of County Commissioners in July and Wednesday, August 4, 2021, is the deadline for the BOCC to notify the Property Appraiser of the tentative millage. TRIM (Truth in Millage) notices are sent to homeowners in the fall (August/September). The Property Appraiser’s office has no control over taxes or millage rates.
Setting a millage determines the amount of ad valorem taxes to be collected for assisting in the implementation of the adopted budget explained a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to members of the BOCC.
The BOCC approved a flat millage rate of 7.4278 by a vote of 4-1 and the MSTU (Municipal Services Taxing Unit) at a rate of 2.3093 with Commissioner John Martin the lone dissenter. Martin argued that the basic millage rate should be reduced by 1.4% — the amount of increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Martin also suggested that any shortfall in revenues could be covered by a more thorough review of expenditure line items.
(Also approved was a flat rate of .0960 for Amelia Island Beach Renourishment and a flat rate 0.000 for the Drainage District).
The flat millage rate will provide increased tax revenue as a result of the increase in the assessed tax base. And while that rate can come down during public hearings and additional Board discussion, it cannot go any higher.
The BOCC also approved the dates for the public hearings required and those dates are September 13, 2021, and September 27, 2021.
Thank you for your financial conservatism and your vote John Martin.