Council to hold final 2009 budget hearing Monday

Posted: September 19, 2008

The Port St. Lucie City Council will hold a second and final public hearing Monday evening for the fiscal year 2008/2009 budget.

It is expected that the Council will maintain the $4.22 per $1,000 of assessed value tax rate for all properties in the city. If the budget passes as proposed, the city will have a $518 million budget next year, which is a 44 percent decrease from the fiscal year 2007/2008 amended budget.

For a look at next years 2008-2009 Budget in Brief click here

Other budget highlights:

Less than 11 percent of all property taxes paid by Port St. Lucie property owners go to the City of Port St. Lucie. The rest goes to St. Lucie County, the School Board, the Fire District and other governmental entities.
Only 8.5 percent of the total money the city needs to operate comes from property taxes.
Total value of all properties in PSL is $10.6 billion, down 19 percent from last year.
City is experiencing a $9.8 million drop in property tax revenue income.
$1 of every $4.22 the city collects in property taxes will be used for Crosstown Parkway construction.
The city’s storm water drainage fee will increase from $123 to $133 per household per year.

The public is welcome to attend the hearing and offer comments about the budget. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in City Hall, at the corner of Airoso and Port St. Lucie boulevards.

The meeting will be broadcast live on the city’s cable channel, PSL TV-20, and will be streamed live over the internet on the city’s Web site. Click here to watch PSL TV-20 live.

For more information, contact:
Ed Cunningham
Communications director
City of Port St. Lucie
(772) 871-5219