The June 1 provisional estimates of Taxable Values were issued on Wednesday to all taxing authorities for Citrus County.

These estimates are based upon market conditions as of Jan. 1 as required by law,” said Geoffrey Greene, Citrus County Property Appraiser.

Taxable Values provide an important element for the development of budgets for all of the taxing entities of Citrus County, said Citrus County Property Appraiser Geoeffrey Greene.

The 2011 preliminary tax roll assessments will be completed by July 1, though refinement of property values is ongoing. On July 1, 2011, this year’s Official Certificates of Taxable Values will be submitted to all taxing authorities.

These provisional estimates being released today show some improvement over the range of estimates provided unofficially earlier this year to local governments for the development of this year’s budget assumptions. The improvement is largely due to significant new investment at Progress Energy’s Crystal River Power Generation Complex to be considered in this year’s proposed assessments for tax purposes.

However, Greene said, “When the largest taxpayer, Progress Energy with almost $2.0 billion of Taxable Value on the rolls is not officially settled, this can greatly affect the bottom line. Remember Progress Energy represented more than 20 percent of the total Non-School Taxable Value for Citrus County in 2010.”

Greene cautioned, “Discussions with Progress Energy are still ongoing, and because there is no final agreement Taxable Values could change from these June 1st estimates.”

Each year, the effect Progress Energy will have on taxable values cannot be known until the company files its annual tax return with the property appraiser's office, which details new construction as well as actual investments and retirements of assets for the given year.

This year, the company’s return was filed in early May on the very last day of a granted 30-day extension. “Given the complexity of this filing, we have an independent utility tax expert review the Progress Energy tax return and advise the office. That review was completed by mid May and the Property Appraiser’s Office immediately communicated the 2011 proposed values to the company representatives,” Greene said.

Greene also said, “With Progress Energy being our largest taxpayer in Citrus County, we are concerned for the difficulty this could present to our taxing authorities. My office will make every effort to resolve this issue and secure agreement with the company, if possible. But, this June 1st estimate should be considered in light of this lack of agreement. I am still hopeful that we can reach agreement prior to the annual mid-June system shutdown required ahead of the July 1st statutory deadline for certification of values to the Taxing Authorities.”

Therefore, the June 1 estimate of taxable values are being reported based upon the property appraiser's office’s estimate of value for Progress Energy. Overall, the 2011 Taxable Values are down from 2010 Taxable Values. The amount of decline varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

For the county, school board, and two cities, the 2011 Taxable Values declines are:

• Citrus County Board of County Commissioners ( -2.3 percent);
• Citrus County School Board (- 2.5 percent);
• Crystal River (-3.5 percent); and
• Inverness (-4.0 percent).

Crystal River’s decrease comes in spite of the city’s annexation actions during the last year. Overall, as of June 1, the two largest entities’ values are the School Taxable Values estimated at $10.1 billion, and Non-School Taxable Values estimated at $9.4 billion.

Not including Progress Energy, other new construction has been quite limited this year, Greene said, and 2011 has seen the lowest new construction value in more than a decade.

For 2011, the only new commercial, medical, and office projects placed on the rolls are: CVS, Citrus Hills; Dollar General, Inverness; Olive Garden, Inverness; Race Trac, Homosassa; SunTrust Bank, Chassahowitzka/Sugarmill Woods; Seven Rivers Hospital Operating Room, Crystal River; Lecanto Veterinary Hospital, Lecanto.

For 2011, new construction continued to decline, and this year is down 61 percent, when compared to 2010. This year’s Taxable Value from new construction was $54.65 Million. This is the single lowest year for new construction in recent history, even lower still than 1997, which was the last time new construction dipped below $100 Million per year, Greene said.

Greene also said that “Until our economy rounds the bend, Progress Energy and the investments this company continues to make in Citrus County plays a significant role in stabilizing our tax base.

“At this point, the declines are about one-half of what they were last year, and this is at least somewhat encouraging.”