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South Florida Water Management District plans to roll back tax rate

Staff report
TCPalm
An aerial view of land proposed for a reservoir to store excess Lake Okeechobee water in the original version of Senate Bill 10 is seen March 24, 2017, on a tour with South Florida Water Management District. Senate President Joe Negron overhauled his original plan to get the bill passed through the Senate and the reservoir will now be built on state owned land as opposed to buying 60,000 acres mostly owned by sugar companies.

Your property taxes could drop a few bucks next year.

For the eighth consecutive year, the South Florida Water Management District board approved a proposal Thursday to cut the agency's property tax rate for the fiscal year that starts in October.

The board will make a final decision on the tax rate in September, after public hearings on the proposal in September.

This year a homeowner in most of the district's 16 counties, including Martin and St. Lucie, with a house assessed at $150,000 and a $50,000 homestead exemption, paid $31 in property taxes to the district.

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Under the proposed tax rate, that homeowner would pay $29.36 for fiscal year 2018-19, a reduction of $1.64 or about 5.3 percent.

Homeowners may pay more taxes next year, though, if their property has been reappraised at a higher value.

District staff calls the cut a "rollback," meaning the lower tax rate is expected to generate the same amount of revenue as last year because of increased property values and new construction.

A TCPalm investigation last year found the biggest savers are the district's biggest property owners. A similar tax cut the board approved in 2015 saved a combined $2.1 million for 15 companies: seven hotels, three utilities, two tourist attractions, two retail stores and one sugar producer. Florida Power & Light Co. saved the most: $531,550.

More:Tax cut saves businesses millions

The property tax revenue collected, along with state and federal funding, will fund the district's estimated $809 million budget.

Board member James Moran of Palm Beach County voted against the rollback, saying the district is "broke" and needs the extra money that would have been raised by keeping the higher tax rate for its reserve fund.

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