New reports from Tallahassee show a slightly gloomier picture of what might happen to Key Biscayne funding if the Amendment 3 property tax reduction proposal is approved by 60% of the voters in November.
At last week’s Community Budget Workshop, Village Chief Financial Officer Benjamin Nussbaum showed a small audience how the constitutional amendment would result in a Village-wide shortfall of $1.05 million from less ad valorem tax, based on data delivered to each Florida community by a state-authorized financial study.
Key Biscayne’s Chief Financial Officer Benjamin Nussbaum.
(Photo courtesy: Jessica Drouet)
The State of Florida’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research estimates the impact on the Village budget will be:
• $1,051,068 in 2027-28
• $2,039,220 in 2028-29
• $2,245,804 in 2029-30
On average, those figures represent an average reduction of Village-wide properties across all 7,396 parcels, including homestead, non-homestead and exempt properties:
• $142.11 per property in 2027-28
• $275.70 per property in 2028-29
• $303.65 per property in 2029-30
Combined with the Village’s proposed millage rate, the estimated annual reduction on an individual homesteaded property would be approximately $287 in FY 2027 and $574 in FY 2028.
“One important caveat,” Nussbaum said. “All of these (figures) are the Village’s portion only. Miami-Dade County and other levying authorities apply the exemption separately, so a homeowner’s total change would be larger.”
Amendment 3 increases the current $50,000 homestead exemption to $150,000 the first year and then to $250,000 the second year. For non-homesteaded properties, it lowers the current 10% annual assessment cap to 5% in 2027 and 2028, for starters.
Weeks earlier, Nussbaum’s original estimate of an $800,000 shortfall to the Village in 2027 was only for the increased homestead exemption.
The state’s $1.05 million includes both the homestead exemption and the non-homestead assessment cap change.
The Village of Key Biscayne’s projected budget (before the upcoming Special Budget Hearings on Sept. 8 and Sept. 22) is $47.2 million, plus another $7 million-plus from special revenue and enterprise funds.