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Mulberry staff warn homestead tax elimination could cut city ad valorem revenue by about $435,000
Summary
City finance staff presented a hypothetical analysis showing Mulberry would lose roughly $434,500 in city ad valorem revenue if homestead property taxes were eliminated; combined county and city losses could exceed $670,000 depending on CRA baseline treatment, and reserves could be exhausted over several years without spending changes.
Mulberry's finance staff and consultant presented a hypothetical analysis April 7 estimating the fiscal impact if all homestead property in the city were exempted from property taxes under proposed state changes.
The presenter, identified in the transcript as Mike, explained his method: he used the city's 2026 budget ad valorem figures and parcel-level data from the county property appraiser to model taxable-value losses when homestead exemptions were removed. He cautioned the projections are estimates and depend on pending state legislative action and assumptions about how community redevelopment area (CRA) base years would be treated.
Under the two modeled scenarios, the city-level ad valorem tax loss was consistent at about $434,500, the presenter said. County revenue loss varies by assumption, ranging from roughly $235,000 to $340,000; combined city and county ad valorem losses were presented in a $670,000 to $775,000 range depending on whether the CRA baseline is adjusted.
The analysis broke out taxable-value composition and noted that mobile home park categories are a significant share of Mulberry's taxable base: combined mobile-home-related categories make up about 15% of taxable property value, and single-family residential categories comprise roughly 27% (about 34% when waterfront SFR is included). The presenter said these distributions reduce the percentage impact on Mulberry compared with cities with a higher homestead share, but the loss would still be material to the budget.
The presenter modeled a hypothetical implementation beginning in 2020 to illustrate the effect over time. Using the city's audited governmental fund unrestricted net balance (about $2.3'$2.4 million), he showed the city could exhaust reserves within several years if spending patterns did not change in response to the revenue loss.
Commissioners responded by urging residents to contact state legislators and by discussing alternatives such as a fixed-value increase to the homestead exemption instead of blanket elimination. Staff and commissioners said they will continue to monitor the legislative session and consider budget or policy adjustments if the state acts.
The analysis is advisory and contingent on pending state legislation; no formal local policy changes were made at the meeting. The commission heard the presentation and discussed next steps, including outreach and monitoring of the state session.
