The Indian River Shores Town Council has voted to reduce the town’s property tax rate and its operating budget, meaning most residents will still see only a slight tax increase this fall due to swollen assessed home values while some homesteaded property owners will see their tax bills flatten.

The council set the maximum property tax rate at 1.281 or $1.28 per $1,000 of taxable value. Should that rate hold through budget hearings in September and not be reduced further, that will be a 4.2 percent reduction from the current year’s tax rate of 1.3349 mills.

“We're a lean, mean, fighting machine in terms of the way we spend the money,” Vice Mayor Bob Auwaerter said. “If you are homesteaded, you know, you're going to stay about the same or get a few dollars back.”

Property values in the town are up 8.73 percent this year, Town Treasurer Heather Christmas said, but the owner of a homesteaded property with a taxable value of $500,000 could see a reduction in town taxes of about $30.

“We're trying to ease the tax burden on our residents,” Christmas said.

Town Manager Jim Harpring told the council he and Christmas crafted the budget to achieve “extremely high customer service at the lowest tax rate possible.”

Christmas explained that the total operating budget is down from $12.8 million to $10.5 million. “This decline is not a result of cuts.”

The town is wrapping up several expensive projects including a major Public Safety Department remodel and computer software upgrades, as well as road paving, and was able to revert back to normal budget mode.

“It's worth emphasizing that this budget does not rely on reserves to fund ongoing operating costs, even with the reduction,” Christmas said, noting that at the close of next fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2026, should everything remain constant, the town would have $6.2 million in reserves.

That represents about seven months of operating funds, which could become important in the event of a disaster.

“You know, we are a beachside community. What those reserves give us is, in the event that we do have a hurricane, a tornado, or some other natural event, we don't have to try to run to a bank in a period of chaos to try to get a drawdown on our line of credit. We’ve got cash on hand. We can go out and get equipment right away to get things moving,” Auwaerter said.

Mayor Brian Foley reminded town residents that town taxes only make up a small portion of their overall tax bill.

“We can't speak to the county and the respective special taxing districts. They have their own taxing powers, so while we can control our own house, we can't control those entities. So the lion's share of those tax bills are beyond our control,” Foley said.

“I know I can speak for all of us up here, that we all agree there's no more solemn obligation and duty as an elected official than to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money,” he said. “And one thing we always have to remember is that we serve at the pleasure of our constituents and the taxpayers. It's not our money, it's their money.”

Auwaerter, Foley and Councilman Sam Carroll all thanked the town staff, and the town’s volunteer Finance Committee which vets the budget before it comes to the council.

Other than tweaking state revenue sharing amounts in the budget, one remaining question mark is the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with the public safety union. The town has made an offer to the union, which town officials say they hope is adopted, but the final terms of that deal will need to be figured into the budget before public hearings in September.