ANNA MARIA – It’s going to be more expensive to live in Anna Maria. The City Commission unanimously approved the city’s 2018-19 annual budget on Sept. 27, setting the final millage to the ad valorem rate of 2.05. The 2018-19 ad valorem is an 8-percent increase over the previous year.
Millage is the rate at which taxes are determined. One mill is equal to one dollar per each $1,000 of a home’s taxable value.
The total approved budget is $13,464,387.
The reconstruction of the Anna Maria City Pier is the largest expenditure planned for this fiscal year Mayor Dan Murphy said the bulk of the city’s planned expenditures is being allocated for the reconstruction.
He added that it is a one-time expenditure and, if all things go according to plan, won’t be on the budget next year.
“It’s an anomaly,” he said.
City officials are hoping construction on the city pier will begin in December or at the beginning of 2019. The city also is accepting another round of pier request-for-proposal applications Oct. 5.