Accessibility Public Records News Calendar Human Resources
news

BCC adopts tentative millage rates and budgets for FY23

The Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners on Thursday adopted resolutions approving the tentative millage (property tax) rates and budgets for Fiscal Year 2023. The Board will take up final consideration and approval of the rates and budget at its Sept. 22 meeting.  

The tentatively approved budget ($2.5 billion for Operating, $876.4 million for Capital Improvements) reduces the millage rate for the second consecutive year. This is the first time in 35 years a consecutive rate reduction has occurred, with the rate dropping from 5.1302 mills in FY22 to 4.7398.  

Conservative fiscal practices and new growth have allowed the County to meet key budgetary goals of strengthening access to behavioral health, increasing spending on road and bridge upkeep (by an additional $18 million), and creating a cultural plan that coordinates investments into the arts. The Penny for Pinellas fully funds projects promised as part of the original plan and is balanced for the remainder of its 10-year term.  

To understand what the lower tax rate means, a homesteaded household with a taxable value of $300,000 would save just over $117 on the Countywide millage. This will vary from household to household and holds true on average.  

Details can be found on the Citizen Budget website at pinellas.gov/budget.

Affordable Housing Program

The Board approved an Affordable Housing Program loan to the Pinellas County Housing Authority for an affordable multi-family rental housing community in Seminole known as Valor Preserve. The recommended loan amount is $1.7 million, using State Housing Initiatives Partnership funds for construction.  

The proposed project is a 64-unit affordable apartment complex. Ten units will be restricted to households at 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). An additional 10 will be restricted to 50 percent of AMI, and the remaining 44 will be restricted to 60 percent of AMI. Thirty-two units will be set aside for households with special needs. Valor Preserve will implement veterans’ preferences for units.