Coral Springs Forum | Sun-Sentinel.com

Parkland’s decision to increase property taxes to make up for the revenue shortfall caused by plunging real estate prices has not gone down too well with a section of its residents.

The city commission adopted a millage rate of 4.0198, which is 3.2 percent less than the rolled back rate of 4.1532, and decided to limit the increase in fire assessment fees to $10 instead of the proposed $44, but not everyone was satisfied. Budget meetings in Parkland have a history of attracting les than a handful of people, but with many homeowners in the city having to deal with a tax increase of about 20 percent, it was different this time.

Keats Soder, a resident, said he did not believe that 50 percent of the people in Parkland were in favor of property taxes being raised by 20 percent. “Majority of people are going to have a 20 percent tax increase. You got to cut your expenses more; simple as that. Why not lower salaries of city employees?”

Cliff Kaufman, another resident, also spoke against the increase in taxes. “We understand revenue going down but these rate increases seem unusually large. You have raised taxes to cover the shortfall in revenue. You need to take even more of the budget so that you have to raise taxes. We should look at whether we need the added services.”

Mayor Michael Udine defended the city’s $22 million budget and the decision to raise taxes. “It is not easy to cut everything. We are one of the few cities that have let go of employees….Most of our residents are paying less in tax dollars this year compared to last year because property taxes have gone down.”