City News Blog: Fiscal Year 25 Budget Workshop Recap

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LAKELAND, FL (August 13, 2024) | The Lakeland City Commission participated in a Fiscal Year (FY) 25 Budget Workshop on August 12, 2024. During the four-hour workshop, City Commission discussed public safety and future personnel needs for both fire and police. There was major dialogue about available cash on hand to satisfy rating agency scores and the need to have funds available if the community is impacted by a natural disaster.  The last hour of the workshop was focused on millage rates and calculating cash reserves based on various property tax rates. The City Commission requested two millage rate budgeting scenarios that will be reviewed for the upcoming FY25 Budget Adoption Hearings scheduled for Thursday, September 5 and Thursday, September 19, 2024. 

The current millage rate in the City of Lakeland is 5.4323 mills. A millage rate is a figure municipalities use to calculate property taxes. One mill is 0.1 cents or one thousandth of a dollar. A mill rate of 1 means residents pay $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of their property's assessed value.  In Lakeland this equates to a residential property owner paying $5.432 per every $1,000 of home value after deductions like homestead exemption.

The City of Lakeland had a 5.5644 millage rate in 2018.  The City Commission has lowered that slightly over the years to where it is today at 5.4323 mills with a .1000 decrease in FY19 and a .0321 decrease in FY22.  Based on FY25 projected expenditures and current revenues, the Commission decided to review the 2018 rate of 5.5644 mills and look at a 5.62 millage rate. The City of Lakeland is feeling the same pinch in the wallet as our citizens with increased cost for goods over the past several years. Here is a quick comparison showing a sample of the cost of goods in 2020 versus 2024.

 

Item                                                           2020                               2024

Golf Course Fertilizer                          $81,000.00                  $93,000.00

Ford F150                                              23,500.00                   43,400.00

Police Cruiser                                         59,500.00                   66,200.00

Asphalt (ton)                                                100.15                          138.40

Concrete Aggregate (cubic yard)                   69.94                          108.94

Turf Chemicals (50 pounds)                           17.87                           28.75

Motor Oil (gallon)                                             5.52                            10.48

Chlorine (gallon)                                                 .89                              1.69

 

Currently, expenditures are outpacing revenues. Lakeland already has one of the lowest property tax rates in Polk County.  Data from the Polk County Property Appraiser indicates the average homeowner would pay an additional $20 per year with the 5.5644 millage rate and about $28 dollars more if the 5.62 millage rate is approved. 

 

Polk County Municipality Millage Comparison

Highland Park                                      9.9759

Lake Hamilton                                     8.4276

Fort Meade                                         8.0000

Dundee                                               7.9000

Eagle Lake                                           7.6516

Haines City                                          7.5895

Davenport                                           7.2500

Lake Wales                                          7.1214

Lake Alfred                                          6.8500

Winter Haven                                      6.5900

Frostproof                                           6.5530

Mulberry                                             6.4400

Bartow                                                6.1080

Lakeland (proposed)                           5.6200

Lakeland (proposed)                           5.5644

Polk City                                              5.5000

Lakeland (current)                               5.4323

Auburndale                                         4.2515

Lakeland, like many communities in Florida, has experienced unprecedented population growth and demand for City services in the past few years.  Since FY23, the general fund incurred $8,773,916 in additional recurring charges mostly around public safety without raising property taxes. These charges include body-worn cameras, 25 additional police officers, 24 additional firefighters and over $1 million in transportation road maintenance.  Once Fire Station 8 is completed, the budget will also include an additional 12 firefighters to staff the new station.

The FY25 Budget does assume five new police officers will be added to the force with the need for an additional five in FY26.  The FY25 budget does have additional expenditures put in place by the City Commission.  These items include a $100,000 matching grant for the Police Athletic League to assist with new building plans, a $100,000 matching grant for the proposed Lakeland Senior Center as well as an additional $100,000 earmarked for the Mayor’s Council for the Arts to assist with arts funding.

The City Commission will have a Budget Hearing on September 5, 2024, that will take place in the City Commission Chambers at 6 p.m.  The FY25 Budget will be finalized at the final Budget Hearing on September 19, 2024.  Both hearings are open to the public. The August 12, 2024, Budget Workshop is available to review as video on demand: https://vimeo.com/997805298.

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