Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
In an effort to keep Madison County citizens informed, Madison County Clerk of Courts and County Comptroller Billy Washington gave a presentation on the County’s budgetary process. Washington gave the first presentation during the meeting of the Madison County Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday, June10. He followed this up with presentations on Monday, June 15, and Thursday, June 18, in the Madison County Courthouse Annex. During the presentation, Washington was clear that he was not advocating for any particular stance. The purpose of the presentation was merely informational.
During his presentation, Washington explained the various sources of revenue the County has. Some of these resources come with restrictions on how the money can be spent. An example of which is money from gas taxes which can only be spent for road construction, and maintenance. This type of accounting is called “fund accounting,” as opposed to “general accounting,” where all the income is pooled together to pay for all expenses.
One major source of income for the County comes from property taxes that are collected, based on the value of the non-exempt property in the county. These are called “ad valorem” taxes. “Ad Valorem” is from the Latin term meaning “to value,” or “according to value.” According to information provided by the office of Marie Smith, Madison County Property Appraiser, the estimated value of all non-exempt property in Madison County available for taxation for the Madison County Board of County Commissioners, as of Monday, June 1, totaled $1,281,230,753. The non-exempt property value for the Madison County District School Board was $1,437,975,277. The City of Madison’s value was $124,464,068. The Town of Lee had a total value of $15,838,828. The Town of Greenville was $16,714,249. Again, it should be noted these are an “estimate of the total assessed value of non-exempt property for the current year for budget planning purposes.” These numbers reflect a significant increase from the 2019/20 fiscal year, which saw a taxable value of $691,820,223. The amount taxed is based on the total value minus any exemptions. Taxing authorities, such as the County, determine the amount to be taxed by calculating the “milage rate.” One mill in the millage rate is equal to one dollar for every $1,000 of assessed property value. As a result, as property values rise, the property taxes would naturally generate more revenue. In order for the revenue to remain the same, the rate of taxation would have to decrease. This refers to the “rolled back rate,” which is the millage rate that would generate the same amount of revenue as the previous year.
For the sake of comparison, the taxable value between fiscal year 2019/20 and 2025/26 shows an increase of 858.2 percent. The millage rate, however, decreased from 10 mills in 2019/20, to 8.6776, a decrease of 13.2 percent. The ad valorem tax revenue increased from $6,656,880 in 2019/20 to $10,883,994 in 2025/26, which is a 63.5 percent increase. During this same time, as everyone knows, prices of nearly everything have gone up, that includes the cost of running government services. An example of this is the increase in the minimum wage, which has increased 63.6 percent, from 2020 to 2026. At the same time, the budgets of various offices within county government have not increased as much, with most offices increasing at near 30 percent from fiscal year 2019/20 to fiscal year 2025/26.
With property taxes being a major source of revenue for the general budget for the County, any change in that funding amount will naturally have an impact on the amount of revenue coming into the County with which to provide services. According to information provided during Washington’s presentation, the current taxable value of homestead properties in Madison County equals $300,930,456. The current number of homestead properties in the County is 4,377, bringing in homestead tax revenues of $2,611,354. If the proposed property tax amendment is passed by Florida voters, it would raise the homestead exemption to $150,000, effective Jan. 1, 2027. The taxable value of homestead properties lost at the $150,000 level would be an estimated $208,740,282. The number of Madison County properties remaining on the tax rolls would decrease to 984. The homestead tax revenue lost at the $150,000 exemption level would be an estimated $1,811,364.
The proposed amendment does not stop at $150,000. It is proposed to increase to $250,000, the next year. After that, the increase in the homestead exemption would be tied to inflation. Should that proposed amendment be passed by the Florida voters, it would mean an additional property value loss of an estimated $57,107,717. The number of properties on the tax rolls would drop to an estimated 308 properties in Madison County. The additional homestead tax revenue lost would be estimated at $495,558, if the homestead exemption is $250,000.
As part of the proposed amendment, counties adversely affected by the loss of revenues, due to a decrease in property taxes could apply for relief from Tallahassee. It is still unclear how that relief would be provided and what limitations would be in place on those funds. It was also noted that pending court cases could have an affect on the proposed Florida constitutional amendment, known as the “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes” amendment.
As noted earlier, the County’s general fund receives most of its revenue from ad valorem taxes. The County does receive some funding from other sources, such as other taxes and fees, a library grant, interest on investments, other grants, etc. From those funds, the County spends money on County Administration, some County Departments, required Constitutional Offices (Sheriff, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, Supervisor of Elections and Clerk of Court), professional services and building maintenance and repairs.
Should the County be faced with a decrease in revenue from ad valorem taxes, the County Commission would be faced with three available options:
• Identify alternative revenue sources to fund existing programs and services;
• Reduce or eliminate programs, departments and services to align with proposed available revenues;
• Implement a combination of both of these alternatives.
During the presentations, both Washington and Smith were available to answer questions. Washington plans to schedule more presentations in order to inform citizens about how the county’s budget is funded and how revenues are spent. The dates and times are still to be determined.