Table of Contents
Answers to Questions from the November 13, 2003 meeting Why would we want to create our own city ?Government works best when it is closest to the people - greater accountability, less complex and more efficient. Those who live within smaller governments have a sense of belonging in their community and have greater pride in their neighborhoods. See "Goals of Incorporation" Back to TopWhat are the proposed boundaries of the Village of the Falls ?Click here to view the boundaries .... a) Yes, the Falls shopping center and the commercial industrial area north of the shopping center are included within the boundaries. Also, revenue and expense estimates provided by Miami-Dade County include data for those areas. Back to TopWill incorporation change all services to The Falls residents ?No, the following services will still be provided countywide and will not be part of the municipal services.
Back to TopWhat municipal services will be provided by the Village of The Falls?
Back to TopWhat sources of revenue will the new village have?In the Finance presentation at the Town Meeting on Nov. 13, they showed that Revenues were expected to be made up of approx. 40% property taxes, and 60% other sources. The revenues from property taxes will come from what is currently the "Unincorporated Operating" line item on your tax bill, which represents only approx. 10% of your total property tax bill. Incorporation will have no affect on the other line items of your property tax bill.
The other 60% if village revenues will come from sources such as (all % approx.):
- Utility fees 17% - State Sales Tax / Revenue Sharing 15% - Franchise fees 8% - Communications tax 7% - Permit & License Fees 6% - Local Option Gas Tax 4% - Other 3% plus - The Village will also be eligible for grants Back to TopWill incorporation add a new layer of government?No. The municipal and countywide services are now provided at the county level.
Step one-Remove the municipal services from the county to village local area. Step two-Reassign county employees previously responsible for municipal services to new countywide responsibilities Step three-Assign municipal services to village employees. Back to TopWill property taxes increase?The act of incorporation does not cause property taxes to increase. To really address this concern, we need to understand what affects your total property taxes. First, your total property tax bill is made up of multiple taxes or fees. We currently live in what is known as the Unincorporated Municipal Service Area (UMSA) of Miami-Dade County. Our ‘municipal services” are currently provided by the county, using revenues collected under the “Unincorporated Operating” portion of your property taxes. If we incorporate, the new village will become responsible for providing municipal services, so the revenues previously collected from the area as “Unincorporated Operating” will be transferred to the new village. (Click here to view a sample tax bill) Those revenues represent only approximately 10% of the total tax bill. Incorporation will have no impact on any of the other taxes or fees which make up your total property taxes. Property taxes are calculated by multiplying the “taxable value” of the property times the “tax rate”. Once the new village is responsible for the municipal taxes, it only has control over the “tax rate” used to calculate the taxes; the village does not control the “taxable value” (the assessed value of property minus the amount of any applicable exemption, e.g. the Homestead exemption). Only the county assessor controls the “assessed value” of the property. Recently incorporated villages, such as Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay have been successful in keeping the tax rate the same as the current county rate or lower. If the assessed property value of the home increases, of course, the total property tax will increase. That is true, whether the tax is managed by a city or by the county. State law, however, limits annual increases in the assessed value of property with Homestead exemption. The assessed value cannot increase more than 3 percent per year or the amount of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. This allows municipalities to keep up with inflation. In 2003, the increase was capped at 2.40 percent, in 2004 the increase is capped at 1.90 percent. Additionally, the increase is not automatic, since no assessed value shall exceed market value. There are exceptions to the limit on the increase. If the property is sold, the assessed value may be increased the following year to “Just Value”, and the increase is not limited to 3 percent. Just Value is another term for market value. Another exception is when the homestead property is improved. The value of the improvement is added to the capped value at full just value. This can allow the appraiser to increase the assessed value to increase beyond the cap. Only the improvement can be assessed at full value. Will the “market value” of your home increase with incorporation? It is quite possible; however, there is no real way to tell whether the “market value” increases due to incorporation or due to other factors in the market place. Even if it is due to incorporation, the “assessed value” will be determined by the county as it always has been. And any increase in “assessed value” will continue to be limited by state law, as it always has been. Back to TopWhat is mitigation?An annual payment made to the county to offset the taxes lost due to incorporating. The county calculates a "Loss to UMSA" based on budget allocations of revenues and expenses for the proposed incorporation area. If the revenues exceed the expenses (meaning that area generates more revenues, than the amount spent to provide services), the area is considered to be a "Donor" area. The "surplus" funds or what the county considers to be the potential "Loss to UMSA" are currently used to support the other unincorporated areas. For the Village of The Falls, the surplus amount is about $3.5 million (1).
Through incorporation, the new city will actually retain some portion of the surplus funds that previously were used outside of the area. The county and representatives for the proposed incorporation area negotiate a mitigation amount, so that the new city will be fiscally viable to "operate a municipal government and provide some service improvements to its residents" and to "mitigate the adverse impact ... to the remaining unincorporated area" (2). (1), (2) source: County report Feb 2, 2004
a) When will the mitigation fee be determined, who specifically will set the fee and will the fee eventually go away as stated in early meetings?
The mitigation fee will be determined via negotiations with the county and the Falls Area Financial Responsibility Advisory Committee (FRAC). The mitigation is one of the terms defined in a "conceptual agreement" which both parties agree to. Based on recent incorporations, the initial negotiations are between the MAC and county staff, but the mitigation fee is finalized by the Board of County Commissioners as part of the hearing on incorporation. The conceptual agreement will be made public to the voters, prior to a vote, as that is a critical aspect of knowing what they are voting on.
After the vote, if it results in a "yes" decision, the County Commissioners appoint a Charter committee to develop the proposed Village Charter. As we understand it, the Charter committee will hold public hearings to gather input on the charter, which will define the structure of the government, and will also include the mitigation terms. If for any reason, those terms are modified through re-negotiations, the voters will still vote on whether or not to accept the charter.
As a general statement, we must say that mitigation is "forever". However, as we have seen in the other charters, there is language which states the terms under which mitigation would cease. The language we have seen commonly is that if the unincorporated population goes below 500,000 (due to continued incorporation) mitigation would end. Another possibility is that it could end due to a change in “laws or ordinances”. We are not banking on those occurrences; however, we must include similar language to protect our position. There is also language which defines how mitigation is applied in subsequent years, so that it is NOT an unknown variable.
b) Does or will the county have a standard set to ensure that every new community pay their EQUAL share. Presently, there is no prescribed standard for mitigation; however, that may be in our favor. Mitigation should be based on our unique situation. Since we are so similar to Palmetto Bay, we feel that similar mitigation is fair to us. There is a certain standard to maintain, since earlier charters also include what is called a ‘favored nations’ clause, which essentially states that another new incorporation cannot be given a better deal. Back to TopIs it true that many incorporated areas in Miami-Dade County have property tax rates in excess of the present county UMSA rate of 2.447 mils.TRUE. But some of them provide their own fire rescue services and other services rather than use the services provided by the Miami-Dade County. That escalates costs. The level of services provided is a key factor in the tax rate, as well as other factors. It is very difficult to compare cities without comparing item by item, service by service. The county web site includes a table, which shows the total millage (tax rates) for each city. Seven cities have a total millage at or below the UMSA rate, yet some have a higher 'city rate'. Four of the recently incorporated cities (since 1990) are among these seven. The bottom line is that it is not easy to compare one against the other without knowing all the details of the municipalities’ budgets. Back to TopIs the name "Village of The Falls" final? No. Deciding on a name comes much later in the process. If the area votes to incorporate, the name can be discussed and if so, would be decided by the residents at the time that the Charter is voted on. Palmetto Bay actually solicited recommendations for names and included it on the ballot when they also voted on the city charter. This may happen here also. With Palmetto Bay, and to some extent, here, the Falls name is very recognizable from a real estate perspective. But that is only one consideration. Revised: 03/01/04. |