Annexation out as tool to balance Boca’s 2008-2009 budget

Published July 4th, 2008

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR

In difficult economic times, local officials are challenged to come up with ways to balance the financial spending package without gutting services.

Annexation is often a consideration in the process.  In fact, when the Boca Raton City Council held its goal-setting sessions in the spring, members directed City Manager Leif Ahnell to put possible annexation into the mix.

With the budget presentation deadline getting closer, it appears the city will put annexation on the back burner for reconsideration another day.

Annexation “would not be logistically feasible” at this time, said Deputy City Manager George S. Brown.  “We are not looking at any specific action.”

For one thing, annexation – if placed on the November ballot, for example – would not take effect until the end of December.

And if Boca annexed property into the city, it would have to provide services “on day one,” said Brown. “But the revenue would not come in for 11 months.”

One of Boca’s most celebrated annexations took place early in the decade when the city petitioned to bring the Town Center at Boca Raton mall and a number of developments around the mall’s perimeter into the city.

It was an “involuntary annexation,” and as such, had to be adopted by a city referendum vote.

City leaders saw that the mall would bring considerable tax revenue to the city. And officials also said that homeowners in that area would save money because some of the fees they would pay as Boca Raton residents are lower than county fees.

Eventually, the mall annexation passed, despite no small number of objectors.

Brown noted that before an annexation is attempted, officials have to determine if it will bring in more money in taxes than it would cost in additional services.  The deputy city manager noted that Boca Raton is still reviewing the numbers from Town Center annexation.

In his recent “action report,” Ahnell said city staff continues to analyze possible annexation areas and review them “in light of changes in property tax collections, short and long-term staffing and service cost impacts.”