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Five years ago, a homeowner in unincorporated Lee County paid just under $7.59 in property taxes for every $1,000 in taxable property value.

Now that same homeowner pays just under $5.89 for every $1,000.

Five years ago, however, that tax rate generated $247.5 million for county coffers. This year, the lower rate produced $456.8 million, an increase of 84.6 percent in five years.

So when county commissioners say they’ve held the line on taxes, they could be telling the truth.

And when state legislators say taxes have risen out of control at the local government level, they could be telling the truth too.

Lee County has one of the highest growth rates in the state, but the almost 85 percent increase in property tax collections over the last five years far outstrips the 24 percent population increase during the same time.

County commissioners will have their first workshop on next year’s budget on Monday. The meeting could be virtually moot, though, because on Tuesday the Legislature goes into special session to consider property tax reform, the results of which could dramatically affect the county’s revenues.

“We don’t know until we see exactly what they do and how they do it,” Commission Chairman Bob Janes said. “We can’t even do our budget.”

Commissioners bristle at the implication they’ve taken advantage of skyrocketing property assessments to spend, as Commissioner Tammy Hall said, “like drunken sailors.”

Hall said legislators should reform the property assessment procedure, which she calls an “assessment crisis.”

In Lee County, huge increases in revenue have come from increases in assessed property value, even as commissioners have cut tax rates three straight years. Commissioners cut the rate in 2004, 2005 and 2006, but property tax revenues went up every year anyway, from around $315 million to almost $457 million.

“In a growth county, you expect some increase,” Hall said. “Nobody expected it to go up like last year.”

Hall cited horror stories of 500 percent assessment increases. Those protected by the Save Our Homes exemption have been sheltered from that storm, she said, but businesses, new owners and second home owners have not. The Save Our Homes exemption limits increases in taxable value to 3 percent a year for those with a homestead exemption.

Hall points out county government makes up only around 25 percent of the typical property tax bill. Schools take up about half. Schools, she notes, got a budget increase from the state of more than 7 percent.

“The Legislature increases property taxes and shifts the burden to the cities and counties to make up for it,” she said. “They give an increase for schools and then ask cities and counties to make it up.”

Of the one-third of the property tax bill the county gets, the sheriff’s budget takes about half. Legislators have said they want to protect public safety from the cuts. That could also include fire districts.

“There’s no question the state needs to be very deliberate and methodical,” Commissioner Ray Judah said. “They need to understand the ramifications of the tax reform they’re considering.”

Exempting schools, law enforcement and fire districts leaves counties and cities to shoulder a heavy burden, Judah said.

“It’s obvious they haven’t obtained all the information they need,” he said. “And they haven’t even looked at the $25 billion in sales tax exemptions.”

Judah frequently rails about the state sales tax exemptions for everything from corporate stadium skyboxes to ostrich feed that leave $25 billion in sales tax uncollected every year. If the state eliminated those exemptions and collected that money, it could also eliminate unfunded mandates and pay for services it now leaves for cities and counties, he said.

“There’s more than enough money there,” Judah said.

Like most opinions on the Lee County Commission, this one isn’t unanimous. Commissioner Brian Bigelow says the Legislature has no choice but to take action.

“I think we have too much money for our own good,” Bigelow said. “We are kicking our economy when we ought to be helping it stand up.”

“You just have to expect the state to pick up and take charge. To do otherwise they’d have to be tone deaf.”

Other commissioners say proposed cuts would mean reductions in services. Bigelow says the county could go the whole year without collecting property taxes and still have plenty.

“I don’t worry one iota about it,” he said. “It’s possible we could take in no property tax dollars next year and be OK. I’m not advocating that, but in a worst-case scenario I think we could figure out how to do it. That’s how flush we are right now.”

LEE COUNTY

Population

2003: 495,088

2004: 521,253

2005: 549,442

2006: 585,608

2007: 613,892

Five-year increase in population: 24 percent

Property taxes collected by fiscal year

2002-03: $247.5 million

2003-04: $287.9 million

2004-05: $315.5 million

2005-06: $365.8 million

2006-07: $456.8 million

Five-year increase in property taxes collected: 84.6 percent