County’s uptick from 2020 certified value put at 7.2%, with City of North Port marking 12.4% jump from last year’s figure
Once again, Sarasota County Commission Chair Alan Maio has been correct in predicting another uptick in county property tax values between the release of the preliminary figure for June and the final figure for July 1.
The data that Property Appraiser William Furst’s staff submitted to the Florida Department of Revenue on June 24 shows a 7.2% increase from the certified county property value in 2020. The June 1 estimate was 6.33%.
The July 1 value for county property is $70,173,143,449, the Property Appraiser’s new report notes.
The increase in the property value means an extra $1.65 million in property tax revenue for the county’s General Fund, staff in the county’s Office of Financial Management told The Sarasota News Leader in a June 28 email.
For the General Operating, Debt and Mosquito Control funds, the increase is $1.9 million, compared to the June 1 value, the staff added. The latter three funds have their own portions of the overall millage rate.
As County Administrator Jonathan Lewis has explained in budget documents, “The General Fund is the largest fund within the Financial Plan. This fund supports significant activities within county government,” including public safety, parks and recreation, libraries, public transit and other general governmental operations.” The General Fund, he added, “pays for key activities” of both the County Commission and the county’s constitutional officers and other boards and agencies. “The General Fund is primarily supported” by property tax revenue, Lewis noted.
At the request this week of The Sarasota News Leader, Brian Loughrey, chief deputy county property appraiser, provided the publication copies of the forms that the tax authorities use to determine and report their proposed millage rates to the Department of Revenue and to the Property Appraiser’s Office. Those rates then are listed on the annual Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices, which the Property Appraiser’s office will mail out on Aug. 16, Loughrey added in his June 28 email to the News Leader.
The County Commission is set to adopt its not-to-exceed millage rate on July 14, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis reported last week. That is the figure that will go on the TRIM notices.
For the City of Sarasota, the July 1 value is up 5.9%, compared to the 4.62% estimate in the June 1 report. Altogether, the city’s property is valued at $12,526,803,940.
The Sarasota City Commission is scheduled to conduct its budget workshops from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 12 and July 13. Then, the tentative millage rate will be set during a special meeting planned for 6 p.m. on July 13, city Communications Specialist Jason Bartolone told the News Leader.
As with the June data, the July update for the City of North Port showed that municipality marked the highest year-over-year increase among all local governments in the county. North Port’s total property value is up 12.4%; the June 1 preliminary figure was 11.53%. The total value of North Port property in the July 1 report is $5,746,178,030.
The property value for the City of Venice climbed, as well. The July 1 figure is up 7.18% from the certified value in 2020. The total is $4,829,933,786. The June 1 report put the increase at 6.18%.
For the Town of Longboat Key, the July 1 increase from the 2020 value is 6.34%, compared to the June 1 figure of 5.45%. The revised Longboat Key figure is $4,455,743,577.
Finally, the total value of the Sarasota County School Board’s property is listed in the July 1 report as $74,590,082,549. The uptick from the 2020 certified value for the School Board is 7.5%. The June 1 increase was put at 6.45%.
Revised values for new construction and other data
The net taxable value of new construction in the county also rose about 1% from the June 1 data to the July 1 report. Instead of $1,565,156,019, as noted in the June documentation, the figure was $1,581,574,179 in the July report.
The latest figure compares to the July 1, 2020 value of $1,690,868,428, a year-over-year drop of approximately 6.5%.
Among other county data in the latest report, the total number of parcels or accounts is 289,828, with 800 of those classified as agricultural. The July 1, 2020 report put the total number of parcels at 287,578, with 850 classified as agricultural.
The number of homestead parcels in the county this year is 113,487, compared to 97,983 in 2020.
The July 1 net taxable value for new construction in the City of Sarasota is $251,344,310, which is about 0.5% higher than the June 1 figure of $250,096,660.
The total number of City of Sarasota parcels in the latest documentation is 27,716, with 10,256 identified as homestead property. The parcel figure for 2020 was 27,578; in 2020, 9,174 were covered by a homestead exemption.
For the City of North Port, the July 1 net new construction value was $301,515,880, compared to the June 1 figure of $299,024,337, an uptick of approximately 0.83%.
The total number of parcels in North Port is 75,631, the new document shows; of those, 19,592 have a homestead exemption. In 2020, the parcel total was 75,782; of those, 17,232 had homestead exemptions. North Port also has 108 parcels classified as agricultural, which is one fewer than the 2020 number.
As for new construction in the City of Venice: The July 1 net value is $69,244,540, which is approximately 1.8% higher than the June 1 figure of $68,024,352.
Venice has 18,040 parcels, the latest document shows; 6,925 of them have a homestead exemption. In 2020, the parcels totaled 17,708, and 5,805 had homestead exemptions.
Additionally, this year, the report shows Venice with 33 parcels classified as agricultural, compared to 37 in 2020.
In the Town of Longboat Key, the net value of new construction this year is $52,519,291, which marks a 2.73% increase from the $51,122,681 figure in the June 1 report.
The July 1 documentation shows Longboat with 6,617 parcels, of which 1,693 have homestead exemptions. The total number of parcels is unchanged from 2020, but last year, only 1,201 had homestead exemptions.
The Sarasota County School Board has 289,828 parcels, the July 1 report says; 800 are classified as agricultural. Last year, the School board had 287,578 parcels, and 850 were classified as agricultural.
Among other data in the report, the taxable value of single-family residences in the county was put at $35,789,557,843. That is up 9.33% from the $32,734,642,602 listed in the 2020 data.
The July 1 figure for condominiums is $14,223,802,337, which is 5.2% higher than the $13,520,380,662 total in last year’s report.