DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Saving money has been top of mind for so many of you, especially as the cost of living has gone up.
Cities like Delray Beach report that it's population has grown 7% from 62,828 in 2014 to 67,536 in 2024.
They also report that the cost of living has increased by 35%-50% over the past decade and that construction costs have risen by 40%.
One possible solution by the city is millage rates.
Millage rates are the tax the city assesses based on individual property values.
The issue is, since the city can't control what property values are, they can reduce the burden on homeowners through millage rates.
In a special meeting Thursday in Delray Beach, commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a millage rate of 5.9063.
"I certainty think our citizens here deserve this break," said Mayor Tom Carney.
Carney suggested the 5.9063 rate, which is lower than the 6.0611 that was suggested by city staff.
He voted in favor of the lower rate and said during the meeting that it was a part of his campaign promise.
WPTV reached out to Carney for comment on Friday but did not hear back.
City officials said the new rate saves residents approximately $67 a year per $300,000 in taxable property value.
That means that someone with a home worth $300,000 will save less than $6 a month on their tax bill.
Someone with a home worth $600,000 will save about $12 a month.
Good news for people budgeting their finances, but at what cost?
At the meeting, the chief of police, interim fire chief, public works and parks and recreation heads spoke up about how the millage rate could impact their budgets.
Among the changes:
- Parks and rec may have to reduce their budget by half for concerts and special events like its annual Christmas tree lighting, and the St. Patrick's Day Parade down Atlantic Avenue.
- Public works could scale back on street and building maintenance.
- Fire Rescue may have to limit two personnel per ambulance instead of three, which could impact response time.
- Police may have to cut down on overtime pay used for extra patrols in problem areas.
"Our responsibility is to get to the call as quickly as possible," said Interim Fire Chief Kevin Green during Thursday's meeting. "When staffing is reduced that becomes more difficult. Units are not available, they may be in another zone but again that's a delayed response in getting those assets to the call to be able to help them."
According to Green, the only full-service municipalities in Palm Beach County that operate with two staff per ambulance are Riviera Beach and Palm Beach Gardens.
One of the two councilmembers that voted no for the new millage rate, and was vocal during the meeting, was Deputy Vice Mayor Rob Long.
He pointed out if the fire department does make the staffing change, they would be the only one in the county to make a reduction in the staffing policy.
Long also questioned Delray Police on the impact it could have on the department.
"I want savings for the residents of this community. I'm not sure that savings outweighs what could happen if you're forcing me to cut back on my services as a police department," said Delray Beach Police Chief Russ Mager during Thursday's meeting. "If you cut my budget, it does not allow me to do what I want to do and what's necessary to keep the city safe at a level that we are expecting from our police department."
Vice-Mayor Juli Casale mentioned she doesn't want a reduction in services, and suggested monetizing beach parking for out-of-towners in efforts to gain revenue.
She said if they charged $35 and all 431 spaces are filled, that could be $15,085 per day, which is $5.5 million annually.
"We're looking to find creative ways to get revenues from not our residents, and that's my goal here," said Casale.
There was a small handful of people who spoke up during public comment.
One of which was Delray resident Debra Walker, who said she's thankful for saving money on taxes and is in favor of cutting back on public events to save money but shared her concerns with WPTV on Friday.
"That leaves me thinking what's going to happen in my neighborhood if I need the police, if I need an ambulance?" said Walker.
She lives west of Swinton Avenue.
"Those folks living east of Swinton, downtown Delray, the beach, those are the people that are going to get the priority from the police, from everybody," said Walker. "I'm worried about the safety, I'm worried about the infrastructure, I'm worried about the things that code enforcement takes care of."
Other residents like Byron Jones are in favor of the new millage rate but said more needs to be done to save residents money.
"Property taxes, house insurance are the biggest burden we have to bear as being residents of South Florida having to live here," said Jones. "We love the way the city has grown but we have to be very guarded about how we grow the next five years because it could make or break some of our residents."
When asked about the budget concerns, he said it's too soon to discuss.
But Jones said a big piece in saving residents money will be to find ways for the city to run more efficiently.
He said he suggested to Carney to have citizen involvement in the process.
"We live here, we know what services we want and we know what discretionary items that we may have to forego," said Jones.
The city is planning workshops in the coming months before making budget decisions in September.
The new millage rate is expected to take effect in September.
