Commission candidate commends new tax rate

Longboat Key resident and at-large commission candidate Phillip Younger sent an e-mail to Longboat Key commissioners Tuesday, Sept. 15, congratulating them on passing a tax rate of 1.4903 mills earlier this week.

Younger, along with Key resident Lenny Landau, presented a 2009-10 budget study this summer, which they believe had the potential for $920,000 in budget reductions.

The report stated that the two residents found $590,000 in savings from the general fund, which could be reduced without impacting town services or personnel. Approximately $330,000 in savings, Landau said, were also found from enterprise funds that affect town rates.

Although Younger and Landau expressed displeasure during the budget process that town staff didn’t do enough to cut the budget, Younger congratulated the commission for lowering the tax rate.

Wrote Younger: “Congratulations to commissioners for your vote to set the upcoming fiscal year’s tax rate at 1.4903 mils, a rate even slightly lower than this year’s and which, most importantly, can be accomplished without a decrease in town services. Your resolve to achieve this goal for the benefit of residents is quite admirable."

Younger also praised town staff in its efforts to put together a balanced 2009-10 fiscal-year budget that starts Oct. 1.

“The efforts of the town manager and the town financial director, especially for his out-of-the-box thinking, to devise a budget to comply with the instructions of the commissioners are also to be commended,” wrote Younger. “In the end, it was a job well done.”

Younger also wrote that he hopes “greater clarity and transparency of financial reporting will occur” in future budget years.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].