The president of the Ocala/Marion Chamber and Economic Partnership (CEP) says residents of Sumter County are not receiving anything “new or different” in exchange for a 25 percent tax rate increase.
CEP President Kevin Sheilley made the remarks on Thursday during the chamber’s annual encore presentation at the College of Central Florida Dassance Fine Arts Center.
“If you’re unaware, our friends just to the south this year had to do a [25 percent] increase in their property taxes. Are they getting anything new and different for that? No,” said Sheilley, of the 25 percent tax rate increase approved by Sumter County commissioners.
Sheilley made the remarks while providing details on the impressive run of capital investment in Ocala over the past seven years.
“The capital investment is $900 million. To give you perspective, seven years ago, the assessed value of property in Marion County was $14 billion. We’ve added almost $1 billion in worth,” said Sheilley of the growth.
Sheilley went on to suggest that because of capital investment in the Ocala Metro area, local tax rates in Marion county were more steady than those in Sumter County.
“That capital investment, that’s money [residents and visitors] are spending in our community. That’s money that’s going to our local governments to help keep our tax rates much lower than they might be,” said Sheilley.
Last September, Sumter County Commissioners voted to approve the measure amidst a slew of comments, letters and general backlash from the public regarding the increase.
“In the Ocala Metro it’s possible to keep our taxes lower because we are growing investments and growing opportunity,” added Sheilley.
