ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Residents on the Treasure Coast rallied against the property tax rate in St. Lucie County Tuesday evening.
Dozens of people held up signs outside of the St. Lucie County Commission Chambers.
Right now I am renting which I know because of the taxes being so high,” Bonel Piere said. “I know that’s a concern not just for myself but for a lot vets that I know are trying to own home.”
Piere says his dream is to own a home in St. Lucie County. He says if the property taxes were lower his dream would be a lot closer.
“Being able to go to work and actually get paid and being able to pay their taxes without feeling that it’s a big burden,” Piere said.
He joins county commissioner candidate Christopher Thompson in fighting for a lower property tax rate in St. Lucie County.
Depending on what part of the county you live in the millage rate is between 19 to 25 mills.
“What I’m telling you is our neighboring counties have basic infrastructure and they pay less than us,” Thompson said. So the reason that we are paying more is because not all the expenses we have are basic it’s a lot of extravagant things. We can take those down and then lower our tax rates as well.”
Incumbent Commissioner Linda Bartz was not available for an on-camera interview - but a county spokesperson emailed WPTV a statement.
“While there are tax watch groups and candidates running for office that focus on the county’s millage rate – what residents and businesses pay in taxes is a formula of the millage rate times the property values. The 2019 Tax Watch study shows that per capital St. Lucie County’s total property taxes were $1,604 compared to the statewide average of $1,597 or $7 more. Additionally, the per capita county property taxes were $602 for unincorporated St. Lucie County (those outside city limits) compared to the county state average of $615 or $13 less. The per capital taxable values for St. Lucie County ranked 25th at $67,599, while the state average was $89,392. Lower values require a higher millage to generate the same revenue. A good example of this is Monroe County – it has the lowest millage rate, but residents pay the highest in taxes.
Last year was the last year in a five-year plan that the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners had been working on to create a sustainable budget. Looking back over the past six year, County Commissioners have decreased the aggregate millage rate four times and increased it twice. Both millage increases (2016 and 2018) were done primarily to fund an increase for the Sheriff’s Office ($5.3 million and $5.9 million respectively). Following the final budget hearing, the County Commission heard loud and clear from the residents that they wanted to see a reduction in the millage rate and the staff and Commissioners are focusing on reducing the millage in the upcoming budget process, which is just getting underway.”
