PORT ST. LUCIE Despite final pleas from residents to keep taxes flat, the City Council Monday night voted 4-1 to an 11 percent increase in the property tax rate.

The new tax rate, $4.68 per $1,000 of taxable value, will go into effect Oct. 1.

Vice Mayor Jack Kelly was the lone vote against the increase. Also, the council unanimously agreed to approve a 2009-2010 $431 million budget.

“This 11 percent increase is a compromise,” City Councilwoman Michelle Berger told residents in a packed chambers, noting that she and Kelly tried for a zero increase but could not get support from other council members.
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The economy is so bad, St. Lucie County officials are thinking about declaring a state of emergency.

St. Lucie County commissioners explored creative methods to lower unemployment and stave the foreclosure mess, including the possibility of declaring a state of emergency to help local companies and laborers find work. (more…)