Lake County, FL Board to have final millage and budget hearing tomorrow, Sept. 29, 2020

Lake County, FL Property owners!  Hang on to your wallet.

The Lake County, FL Board is having their final State required hearing to approve the new millage rate and annual budget tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept 29, 2020 at 5pm in the County Chambers. They started budget discussions earlier in the year, and had the first state required hearing about two weeks ago. They did NOT approve the rollback rate, and since most property valuations increased 3-9%, most people will get hit with tax increases. You can watch the final hearing tomorrow online via the County website, or attend in person.

 

Opinion: We are in a sliding pandemic economy. The County Board and ALL the cities should have approved the rollback rate to show empathy with all the businesses and employees losing income, but they did not. Many cities are giving out raises and will get windfalls due to high valuations, like Mascotte, which had valuation increases of 25%. No wonder businesses are closing. Look at your Trim Notice and see how much more your taxes will be. Did you get a raise that high? Call or write your elected officials to voice your opinion, and don't complain to me when you get the tax bills.  At the City level, if the Council did not at least approve a rollback rate, that might be a good reason to vote out incumbents who voted for millages higher than the rollback rate.

 

Below is the official Lake County press release. NOTICE that they failed to give you a link directly to the proposed tax and millage resolutions. 

 

Lake County Commission to host public hearing regarding budget

Tavares – The Lake County Board of County Commissioners is inviting the public to attend the Fiscal Year 2021 public budget hearing on September 29, 2020. The hearing to set the millage and adopt the budget will take place at 5:05 p.m. in the Board Chambers of the County Administration Building, located at 315 W. Main St., Tavares.

 

To view the meeting live, visit https://lakecountyfl.gov/boardmeeting.

In August, the Lake County Property Appraiser’s Office mailed TRIM, or Truth in Millage notices, which contain information about property taxes. TRIM notices list the taxable value of each property and provide information on the proposed maximum millage rates and taxes as estimated by each Lake County taxing authority, which includes the County Commission, School Board, municipalities and others. The Property Appraiser’s Office also posts TRIM notices for all properties in Lake County online at www.lakecopropappr.com.

 

The fiscal year of Lake County’s annual budget is Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The Office of Management & Budget is committed to accounting for and managing public funds appropriately and openly, recommending effective and efficient financial plans, and ensuring adequate funding is available to carry forward programs as directed by the Board of County Commissioners.

 

For more information, contact the Office of Management & Budget at 352-343-9452 or visit http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/.../fiscal_and.../budget.

 

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com