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Town lowers millage rate

By Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 9/19/18

ORANGE PARK – Orange Park Town Council adopted a new fiscal year millage rate, and in doing so, decreased the millage rate by 4.22 percent, allowing residents to save some money this year on …

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Town lowers millage rate


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Orange Park Town Council adopted a new fiscal year millage rate, and in doing so, decreased the millage rate by 4.22 percent, allowing residents to save some money this year on property taxes.

During the regular council meeting Sept. 18, town council voted 5-0 to reduce the millage rate for fiscal year 2018-19 to the rolled back rate of 5.9212. Previously, it was 6.1818. While this rolled back rate will see the town lose $132,964 in revenue, Mayor Gary Meeks said he is happy that the council opted to move forward with a lower millage rate.

“The reason I am glad for it is that we promised the people that when we did the utility tax, that if there was any way that we could possibly in the future make a reduction...we would do it,” Meeks said.

The utility tax is an upcoming monthly stormwater utility tax that will see residents of Orange Park pay based on the parcels they own. The funds will help provide funding for future stormwater management.

For the most part, residents were happy that the town council voted in the tax. For decades, Orange Park has been plagued with problems resulting from the town’s management, or lack thereof, of stormwater. This utility tax, along with a $500,000 increase to the General Fund balance the town voted in back in February, will help tackle these problems head on.

While this utility tax has not yet been implemented – the council is still making amendments to its ordinance and still has another public hearing and reading before it’s official – residents can expect to pay no more than $10 a month. However, resident who own around 2,000 square feet of land will pay an amount closer to $5 a month, under the proposed ordinance.

The decreased millage rate will offset the utility tax that residents will soon have to pay and give citizens a much-needed break, according to council member Alan Watt.

“I think the people deserve a break,” Watt said. “If we’re going to have stormwater, we have to be able to treat and maintain and take care of the stormwater, and if they’re going to pay for that [in the form of the stormwater utility tax], we have to give them a break somewhere else.”