West Palm Beach readopts FY2021–22 millage and budget after TRIM advertisement error; votes unanimous

The West Palm Beach City Commission on Dec. 6 voted unanimously to readopt the city’s final ad valorem millage rates and the FY2021–22 operating budget after staff discovered technical errors in the Truth in Millage (TRIM) advertisement.

Staff explained that the Department of Revenue notified the city on Nov. 16 that the TRIM certification package was not compliant with Florida Statutes 200.065 and 200.068 because the ad valorem proceeds shown in the published budget summary had been calculated using less than 95% of the gross taxable value. A staff member working in the budget office said the error resulted from an outdated tax increment financing (CRA) base value remaining in the calculation form and from not updating embedded formulas, which caused the published totals to be understated even though the detailed line-item budgets and CRA and general-fund budgets were correct.

“You had prior figures in the CRA increment that were not updated in the ad,” the staff member said, describing the correction and emphasizing that the error affected the summary advertisement rather than the underlying budget entries. The staff member said correcting the debt-service taxable-value input produced an additional $4,009.87 in debt-service proceeds, and that the city’s revenue and expenditure totals for the fiscal year increase by that amount.

Staff said the corrected budget summary was re-advertised in the Palm Beach Post on Dec. 1 and that the city provided the required notice of property tax increase with the applicable violation clause. The re-advertisement required the city to hold a second hearing within the statutory 2–5 days following publication, which is the meeting held Dec. 6. Staff also told the commission it revised the calculation worksheet with highlighted fields and will submit documents earlier to the Department of Revenue for a pre-review to reduce the risk of a repeat.

Commissioners pressed staff on safeguards. Commissioner Lambert thanked staff and asked for public clarification about an illustrative “9¢ per resident” figure staff used; staff reiterated that the overall totals were unchanged and that rounding differences of less than a dollar per homestead would not change tax bills. Commissioner Fox asked whether the city faced penalties; staff said there was no penalty beyond the cost of re-advertising, which staff identified as $1,100.

Clerk read Resolution 322-21F, which readopts the final ad valorem millage rates for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2021, and ending Sept. 30, 2022: 8.3465 mills for general operating purposes (2.77 mills above the rollback rate of 8.1212), and 0.0718 mills for general obligation debt service, for a total levy of 8.4183 mills. After a motion and second, the clerk conducted a roll-call vote; Commissioners Peduzzi, Schauff, Warren, Fox and Lambert voted in favor and the resolution passed unanimously.

The clerk then read Resolution 323-21F, adopting the city’s final estimates of revenue and expense and adopting the FY2021–22 annual budget. Following motion, second and a roll-call, the commission again voted unanimously to approve the budget readoption.

City attorney and staff confirmed that once the mayor signs the necessary certifications, staff will forward the proof of publication and documentation to the Department of Revenue. The meeting closed with staff noting there were no members of the public present to comment.

The commission’s action preserved the previously adopted millage rates and budget totals while addressing a statutory compliance issue in the published TRIM advertisement; staff said they implemented additional internal checks and earlier submission to the Department of Revenue to prevent recurrence.