Staff get a 3 percent raise as the tax rate holds

St. Augustine Beach folded a 3 percent pay increase for city staff into a $15,555,894 budget on Tuesday, September 8 — 2.5 percent across the board and 0.5 percent as merit — with no new jobs, and kept the property-tax rate at $2.50 per $1,000 of taxable value, matching this year's rate. It was the first of two votes.

That rate is higher than the rollback rate of $2.4273 per $1,000, the lower figure that would have collected the same dollars as last year after property values rose. On a typical $634,400 house, staff put the rollback bill at $1,419 and the city's rate at $1,461, about $42 more. Salaries and benefits rise about $55,359 in the packet. Medical insurance still climbed 10.4 percent after a vendor switch, and staff added a long-term disability benefit of roughly $8,000.

Commissioners praised insurance shopping they said would save about $128,000 a year on workers' compensation, auto, and property coverage. The savings helped them hold the rate still. The raise stayed in.

Headcount stays put; the cost of the people already on the payroll does not. The matter is set for 5:00 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at City Hall, 2200 A1A South.