County Commissioners are going to have to find a way to trim another 115 thousand dollars from their budget. On Tuesday, Clerk of the Court Marcia Johnson said that the assessed value of locally owned properties has fallen by over 1 percent since the county approved its budget in September, and could fall even more depending on decisions from the value adjustment board later this week. That equates into a nearly 115 thousand dollar decrease in property taxes which the county will have to make up. The county had a similar problem last year but bigger; last year they found themselves beginning the budget year with a nearly half million dollar shortfall. There are a number of reasons for the decline, but it mostly boils down to the fact that properties are not selling for the high prices they once did and many of the sales are happening in the county are either through foreclosure or auction. In the past the county has also been able to rely on new construction to cover any decrease in property values, but there has not been much new construction this year either. Commissioner Cheryl Sanders added that so far the county has been able to absorb the lost revenue by using its reserves, but it won’t be able to do that much longer. The board said that counties across Florida are facing the same problem so it might help to find out what those other counties are doing to address their budget shortfalls.
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