Recent budget includes tax reduction

In 2011, Mayor Carlos Gimenez delivered on his centerpiece promise to reverse the property tax increase that occurred under his predecessor who was later recalled.

Now we are revisiting that promise in Gimenez's second budget year.

In July, Gimenez proposed a $5.9 billion budget for 2012-13 that dropped the tax rate from $9.74 to $9.55 per $1,000 of taxable property value. Much of the decrease was possible due to a slight uptick in property values.

The Miami Herald wrote that the tax rate equaled a 2 percent decrease from last year. In an unincorporated neighborhood like Kendall, the owner of a $250,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay about $38 less in county taxes, which represent only a portion of the total tax bill. However, if a property's value rose more than the nearly 2 percent countywide average, a homeowner could see a slight increase in county taxes.

On Sept. 20, the county commission approved the budget 11-1 with Commission Chairman Joe Martinez -- who ran against Gimenez in 2012 -- voting against it. Commissioner Dennis Moss was absent for the vote.

We rate this Promise Kept.