|
What
is Children’s Services Council?
Children’s Services Council is a 19 year-old agency
that uses dedicated property tax revenue to improve
the lives of children and families in St. Lucie
County.
What
is the Mission of the Children’s Services Council?
The
mission of the Children’s Services Council of St.
Lucie County is to improve the quality of life for
all children in St. Lucie County.
What
is millage rate?
Millage
rate is the amount of tax collected per $1,000 of
assessed property value. The Children’s Services
Council of St. Lucie County, as approved by voters
in 1990, is allowed to assess up to .5 mil, or 50
cents per $1,000 assessed value in property taxes.
The Children’s Services Council's proposed millage
rate for 2009/2010 is 0.4872.
What
does the Children’s Services Council do with the
funds they collect?
The
majority of the Children’s Services Council funds
are used to support prevention-based programs for
children and families. Children’s Services Council
supports programs that promote Healthy Babies and
Families; ensure School Readiness & School
Success; increase Family Building and
Strengthening; provide Recreational & Youth
Development activities; and promote Healthy
Lifestyles and Teen Pregnancy Prevention.
How
does the Children’s Services Council monitor the
programs it funds?
Funded
program are evaluated on an on-going basis to assess
their accomplishments towards achieving program
goals. Additionally, programs are funded on a
reimbursement basis allowing for monthly fiscal
review.
For
nearly twenty years, the Children’s Services Council
of St. Lucie County has been a dedicated steward of
taxpayer dollars, providing funding for prevention
and early intervention programs, advocating for
children, and training the social service workforce
that provides services to children and families.
The mission of the Children’s Services Council and
the reason for its existence is to provide primary
prevention and early intervention programs to
improve the quality of life for all children and
families. During these economic times, many families
and their children face new stresses previously
unfelt. CSC strongly believes that its current core
of 57 funded programs (which reach nearly 20,000
children and families) provides a necessary safety
net of primary prevention and early intervention
services.
Since 2000, CSC has not raised the millage rate,
which is the amount per $1,000 that is used to
calculate taxes on property. From 2007-09 CSC
reduced its millage rate by 3%. For the 2009/2010
Fiscal Year, CSC is proposing a millage rate
increase from 0.3858 to 0.4872 mills, which is less
than the rollback rate (the rate that would generate
the same dollar amount of tax revenues as the prior
year). This increase is necessary to maintain the
core services of the Children’s Services Council.
For most residents, the increase in the millage rate
from .3858 to .4872 will be felt minimally (less
than a dollar increase per month) and may even
result in a reduction from last year due to the
significant decrease in property value. For an
example:
-
Last year (2008), the average home appraised
at $143,000 with homestead exemption of $50,000
-CSC
amount for 2008 (at millage rate of .3858) =
$35.88
-
Current year (2009), the average home
appraised at $114,000 with homestead exemption
of $50,000
-CSC
amount for 2009 (at millage rate of .4872) =
$31.18
*Represents a $4.70 decrease from last year
*CSC
taxing amount equates to less than $2.60 a month
|
