DELRAY BEACH — City officials want to assure residents that specifics on the upcoming overall budget have not been determined despite a decision to trim the property tax rate , which could potentially affect the police, fire, public works and parks and recreation budgets.
Mayor Tom Carney, who was one of three on the five-person commission to approve the new tax rate July 25, said cuts to services are not necessarily what will be needed to adopt the city’s rollback rate. As Oct. 1 — when the new rate would go into effect — approaches, those who voted in favor of it remain confident that other cuts can be found, ones that do not jeopardize the city’s public safety or other levels of service.
Carney said he supports the city’s projected $187 million budget.
“We have tremendously well-trained first responders,” Carney said. “They’re also extremely professional, so I know they’re not going to sit there and not respond to a call.”
If approved in September, the new tax rate of $5.9063 per $1,000 of assessed property value would be a rollback from the city’s current millage of $6.3611. The year before, the rate was $6.4611. It means that residents would save approximately $67 a year per $300,000 in taxable property value.