PALMETTO — City commissioners voted 4-1 on Aug. 3 to set a proposed property tax rate of 5.8445 mills for the 2026-27 fiscal year, splitting the difference between the rolled-back rate and the rate the city levied this year.
The figure lands between 5.8312 mills, the rolled-back rate, and 5.9671 mills, the rate in place for the current fiscal year.
A mill equals $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed taxable value. At 5.8445 mills, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $200,000 would owe about $1,169 in city taxes, roughly $3 more than under the rolled-back rate.
Taxable property values in the city rose about 2.76% over last year, according to the city clerk’s office. The rolled-back rate is the rate that would raise the same amount of money from existing property as the city collected this year, so any rate above it counts as a tax increase under state law.
State law also sets the vote needed to adopt a rate. A rate at or below rolled-back requires a simple majority. A rate up to 110% of rolled-back requires a two-thirds vote of the commission. Anything higher requires a unanimous vote.
Commissioners can lower the rate during the budget hearings but cannot raise it once the preliminary rate is set.
The first budget hearing is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Sept. 14, with a final hearing at 6:15 p.m. Sept. 28. Both are at City Hall, 516 Eighth Ave. W.