Attached are the 2020 Certification of Taxable Value and the 2020 Certification of Voted Debt Millage for the City of Palm Bay, as prepared by the Office of Brevard County Property Appraiser. In accordance with the Truth in Millage (TRIM) legislative requirement, these forms must be filed with the Property Appraiser’s Office by July 30, 2020, certifying the proposed Ad Valorem tax rate and the proposed Debt Levy rate for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020.

2020 Certification of Taxable Value Summary
The Certified Gross Taxable Value for operating purposes for the City, including new construction, is $4,814,133,849. The portion of the gross taxable value represented by new construction is $142,337,932.

Information contained on the 2020 Certification of Taxable Value is required to compute the overall roll-back rate. As required by TRIM, the estimated roll back millage rate (the millage rate required to collect the same tax revenues next year as this year, excluding new construction) is 7.6415 per $1,000 of assessed value compared to the current millage rate of 8.1379. The rolled back rate is lower than the current millage rate due to increase in existing property values for 2020.

The preliminary operating budget is built upon the 3.00% CAP rate of 7.8378 mills. The current tax rate is 8.1379. State revenue estimates are not yet available and may positively or negatively affect the preliminary budget as presented to you on July 23, 2020. If state revenues come in significantly less than what is estimated in the preliminary budget, additional reductions in the proposed budget may be required. Council will establish the actual tax rate this September.

2020 Certification of Voted Debt Millage Summary
The Certified Taxable Value for the City, including real property, personal property and centrally assessed property is $4,888,595,659.

The proposed debt millage rate of 0.7516 shall generate estimated revenues totaling $3,527,298, assuming an estimated 96.00% collection rate, based on the gross taxable value certified by the Property Appraiser’s Office. These revenues are restricted and are designated for payment of the General Obligation Bonds, Series 2019 debt service payment of $3,527,750.00, due in the FY 2021 Budget year.

Public Hearing Dates
The City is also required to set the date and time of the first Public Hearing on the proposed millage. The Notice of Proposed Property Taxes that the County mails out on September 1st contains this information and is the approved TRIM method of advertising the City’s first public hearing. Cities are not allowed to set hearing dates on dates reserved by the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners (September 8th and September 22nd) and the Brevard County School Board (July 30th and September 10th). It is recommended that the City’s first Public Hearing be held on Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. and the second Public Hearing be held on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.