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Council approves increase in non‑ad valorem assessment administration fee from 2% to 3% in county property appraiser agreement
Summary
The city amended its agreement with the Hernando County Property Appraiser to raise the administrative fee for non‑ad valorem assessments from 2% to 3% to cover rising software, licensing and hardware costs; council also approved two minor corrections to the agreement.
The Brooksville City Council voted 5–0 May 19 to amend its agreement with the Hernando County Property Appraiser to raise the administrative charge for non‑ad valorem assessments from 2% to 3%.
Hernando County Property Appraiser staff explained rising costs for software, licenses, hardware and maintenance have accumulated since the city last set the administrative percentage in 2005. Staff listed examples including increased Windows Server data‑center maintenance costs, higher Esri GIS license fees, $218,776 orthoimagery/oblique imagery costs every three years as required by the Department of Revenue, higher server and virtual environment costs and subscription‑based software licensing that now requires annual payments.
The appraiser's representative said local administration costs, including staff and systems used to process non‑ad valorem assessments, exceed what a 2% fee now covers and that the county has already approved a change from 2% to 3% for its jurisdiction. The proposed 3% was characterized as conservative relative to an inflation estimate that quoted 3.22% but rounded down to 3%.
Council action: After clarifying the agreement text (two typographical corrections requested by city staff), the council approved the amendment 5–0. Staff explained the charge is applied to non‑ad valorem assessments and the costs are borne by the property owners subject to those assessments, not by the city’s general fund.
What to watch: The 3% administrative charge will appear on future non‑ad valorem assessment notices processed through the property appraiser; staff said the county already moved to 3% during its process.
