Millage and Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023

The annual budget process for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 formally started on May 4, 2022, when the Town Council held a Budget Workshop and adopted a proposed millage rate of 1.4 at that stage in the process when a conservative approach to the budget and millage rate is prudent. Next the Town Council held a Tentative Budget Hearing on September 12, 2022: the first of two budget hearings that month. At this hearing, the Town Council adopted a lower tentative tax rate of 1.1 mills, which was 15.47% under the rolled back rate of 1.3013 (the millage rate that would have resulted in the same Ad Valorem revenue next year as the current year). At the Final Budget Hearing of September 19, 2022, the Town Council adopted a final millage rate in line with the tentative millage rate of 1.1 mills. This rate was 21.43% lower than the millage rate for Fiscal Year 2021-2022. The budget adopted at that same meeting is provided in the table below and is labeled "General Fund - Annual Budget". 

Annually, within sixty days of the end of a fiscal year, the Town Council has the opportunity to adopt a final budget amendment to ensure the budgeted expenditures fully cover the actual expenditures of the elapsed fiscal year as required by state law. Such a final budget amendment was necessary for the fiscal year ended on September 30, 2023. This was due to the expenditures directly related to the Town's swift response to the damaging effects on the coastline in Orchid from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole during that fiscal year, as the Town Council voted to conduct an emergency dune repair project in FY 2022-2023. Prior to those dual impacts, such a project was unexpected because of the continued robustness of the Sector 3 renourishment project conducted in Town of Orchid by Indian River County in FY 2020-2021. However, the two storms proved devastating to the County’s work and the Town’s suddenly-necessary emergency dune repair following the storms caused the total budgeted expenditures of last fiscal year to be exceeded.

On November 14, the Town Council adopted Ordinance No. 2023-16, which provided for a final budget amendment to address the disparity between the original budget, adopted in advance of either storm’s naissance, and the actual expenditures of the fiscal year. The amendment included adjustments in Revenues and Expenditures to give a more complete picture of the budget, as certain Revenues also exceeded the budget, particularly in the category of Intergovernmental, due to the Town Council's allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the emergency repair.

To calculate Town taxes on your property, take the taxable value of your Orchid property, divided by 1,000 and multiplied by the millage rate. Please note that your annual TRIM notice, as prepared by the Indian River County Property Appraiser, includes many millage rates levied by different taxing authorities - Town of Orchid is just one such entity and only receives a portion of your overall property taxes.

The below tables have been updated as the budget process unfolded.