North Port officials foresee revenue shortfall as they plan 2024-25 city budget

NORTH PORT – The City Commission started the first of several workshops on the proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget, staring at the need to cut roughly $3.1 million from its general fund budget, despite a projected 7.5% increase in taxable property value that would bring in another $2.3 million over this year.

But changes to the general fund discussed at a March 19 workshop would create roughly $5.4 million in increased spending, during a year where both the police and firefighters unions are negotiating contracts.

“Please don’t fall in love with the $3 million number,” City Manager Jerome Fletcher told the commission.

He added that one of the main purposes of the discussion was to “show you that our revenues are not going to keep up with our expenses.”

With the city preparing to ask voters to approve a property tax rate increase to repay bonds to pay for a new police station that could cost as much as $122.7 million, board members have no appetite to ask for an additional property tax revenue to pay for the general fund budget.

“We’re looking at some pretty good cuts here,” Vice Mayor Phil Stokes said. “The answer is not, in my opinion, to raise anybody’s taxes – it’s time to cut this year.

“This budget process had better be about cutting and dissecting where we are,” he added.

Double digit growth at an end?

In each of the last two fiscal years, North Port saw double-digit percentage increases in property values. Still the current projection is estimated at a more conservative 7.5%.

Using the current rate of 3.776 mills – or about $3.77 per $1,000 of taxable property value – that would generate the $2.3 million.

The board spent most of the three-hour workshop discussing what priorities they may need to shift to help produce a balanced budget but arrived at no formal consensus. Commissioner Pete Emrich did not attend – either in person or electronically – as he continues to recover from a motorcycle accident.

Property taxes aren’t the only source of revenue for the general fund.

For 2023-24, they accounted for a little more than $31 million of the $74.8 million general fund budget, which also draws funds from other sources of revenue. This past year that included an increase of the Florida Power & Light utility tax from 6% to 10% and introduction of a payment in lieu of a utility tax of 5% for city water customers.

Preparing for a police station referendum

The commission will be hard pressed to push for increases in those fees too, as the city crafts a referendum to increase the property tax rate by 6.8%, to cover the cost of issuing $35 million in bonds to help pay for the proposed police station.

The commission is also contemplating using sales tax revenue to pay for a $50 million companion bond.

The combined $85 million that would raise would still leave the city piecing together other funding – including selling the current police station to the Development Services Department, which currently has about $10 million in its building fee funds available to pay for an expansion.

The commission will host a Town Hall at 6 p.m. March 21 to answer questions about the project and the referendum. It will be held in chambers at City Hall, 4970 City Hall Blvd. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube and the city's Facebook page.

Only three commissioners will be available for that, as Commissioner Debbie McDowell had previously scheduled her own Town Hall for 5:30 p.m. that same evening, at the Shannon Staub Public Library.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: North Port will go lean for 2024-25 budget; seek police station bond