published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009

County tax roll continues to drop

By DAVID BREED

Special to the News-Sun

SEBRING -- Myrna Spencer, accounting director for the Highlands County Tax Collector's Office, made an annual presentation to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday.

Spencer said that the total tax roll for the county continued to drop over the past year, and this trend looks to continue in the future. As of Oct. 1, the Certified Tax Roll for 2009 was $107 million, down from $115 million in 2008 and $129 million in 2007.

"The reason for tax roll decrease is that we don't have people coming in after the tax sale," Spencer said.

There was, however, an increase in total revenue of $665,242 from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"This is not what we expected," Spencer said.

"When the state increased their fees, our office responded to that by telling the public that they could come in early and they could renew for two years. A number of people took advantage of that," Spenser added.

According to Spenser, the drop in collection rates will have an impact in Highlands County in the next fiscal year.

"We anticipate there will be a reduction in the taxable value of property next year," Spencer said. "On the tax sale, we fully agree that less people will come to the table and they will have less money to spend."

It was also noted that possible legislative changes could be made to the Department of Motor Vehicles fees as well as property taxes.