Editorial: Property values

We will be hearing some big numbers bandied about in the next few weeks as local taxing authorities ranging from counties to fire districts factor a new batch of taxable property values into next year's budgets.

To be sure, even by Southwest Florida standards, the numbers are whoppers. In Lee County, taxable values are up 36 percent from last year. In Collier County, they're up 25 percent.

In Bonita Springs, taxable values are up 30 percent. In Naples, the number is 26 percent. On Marco, 27 percent.

It will be important to try to keep in mind that a 20-or 30-something percent increase in property values and taxes will not mean a total budget hike by the same amount, even if millage rates remain the same. That is because most taxing agencies' budgets include many other taxes, including those on most retail sales and gasoline. Utilities such as electricity and telephone can mix in as well.

Neighborhood fire and water districts — which do depend heavily on property taxes — bear watching.

Those tend to coast along handsomely, out of the media spotlight, with millage locked and reaping the windfall.

These are big numbers — representing your tax dollars. A single mill of tax — $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value — levied countywide in Lee, with an taxable value forecast of $88.3 billion, would net nearly $88.3 million; this year it brought in $64 million. In Collier, with a targeted taxable value of $77 billion, the same countywide mill would bring $77 million; this year it is worth $61.4 million. In the city of Bonita Springs each mill will be worth $9.7 million, up from $7.4 million; in Naples, a mill will mean $16.6 million, up from $13.7 million.

And yes, the increases will hit hardest the property owners who do not live and vote here. Those who are homesteaded qualify for the Save Our Homes annual evaluation increase cap of 3 percent, or the cost of living, whichever is less.

One school of thought might say that because such taxable value increases are not likely to be repeated next year, when the statistics reflect real estate transactions in a much cooler 2006 market than in 2005's unbelievable upward spirals, local governments should go ahead and reap the windfall — and sock away reserves for next year.

The school of thought we prefer would be to hold elected officials accountable to collect what they need — nothing more, nothing less.

Your tax dollars should be at work for something important. Otherwise they should remain yours.

Collier County government has the advantage of having a fiscal plan in place. It calls for property tax revenue increases to be capped at a maximum increase of 16 percent. Plus, the county has already factored double-digit valuation increases into its formula for using property taxes to supplement road needs.

Road work and maybe some stormwater management would have been on our list for dipping deeper.

An increase in assessments doesn't entitle counties and cities — or schools, for that matter — to an increase in the budget. What entitles them to a budget increase is a reasoned, justifiable increase in needed services to constituents. While we recognize that items such as rising insurance costs, the need to attract and retain employees and the rising costs of building materials mean that some sort of budget increase is probably inevitable, we seriously doubt that the bite on property owners — homesteaded or not — needs to be anywhere near 25 or 36 percent.

The overheated real estate market of late 2005 is back, if only in spirit.