Longboat Key property values are on the rise

For the first time since 2008, the town is seeing property values rising on the Key. 

Sarasota and Manatee County property appraiser offices reveal their taxable values today.

Longboat Key properties in Manatee County, certified July 1 by the Manatee County property appraiser’s office, rose 1.83% from last year’s values, for a taxable value increase of $23,327,199. 

The Sarasota County property appraiser office has yet to release its numbers for the Sarasota County portion of the Key, but those numbers are due today and set to rise slightly.

The town estimated a Key-wide 3% increase in property values earlier this year in budget forecasts. 

The Longboat Key Town Commission is slated to set its maximum millage rate tonight at its 7 p.m. regular meeting at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road. Commissioners will also decide whether to include a beach millage service debt for taxpayers this year or next year for an upcoming beach project that voters already approved.

Although Town Manager Dave Bullock says he’s fine with the commission keeping the millage rate flat for another year, Commissioner Jack Duncan suggested the commission “consider our tax strategy going forward.”

Duncan suggests the town could keep the millage rate the same, but set its maximum millage rate higher than the current millage rate, to let taxpayers know that the tax rate can’t stay the same forever. 

The maximum millage rate is a number the commission uses to set a maximum tax rate; the town can’t set its tax rate higher than the maximum rate once it’s established.

Check www.yourobserver.com for updates on tonight’s meeting and pick up a copy of Thursday’s July 4 Longboat Observer. 

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].