City News Blog: City of Lakeland First Budget Hearing Recap - Commission Votes No Property Tax Increase

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LAKELAND, FL (September 6, 2024) | The Lakeland City Commission participated in the first Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Budget Hearing on Thursday, September 5, 2024.  During the two-hour Budget Hearing, City Commission listened to City Manager Shawn Sherrouse go over the proposed FY25 budget that included calculations based on a 5.5644 millage rate.

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 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 wanted to review the 2018 rate of 5.5644 mills as part of the FY25 Budget Hearing. 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                              $93,000

Ford F150                                                      23,500                                 43,400

Police Cruiser                                                 59,500                                 66,200

Asphalt (ton)                                                    100                                        138

Concrete Aggregate (cubic yard)                     70                                        108

Turf Chemicals (50 pounds)                              18                                          28

Motor Oil (gallon)                                                5                                          10

 

There was a push by Mayor Mutz to approve the 5.5644 rate going forward so the full commission could vote on the millage rate at the final Budget Hearing on September 19, 2024.  Commissioner Bill Read was absent from the Budget Hearing and has expressed his concern over expenditures outpacing revenues. Data from the Polk County Property Appraiser indicates the average homeowner would pay an additional $20 per year with the 5.5644 millage rate. The suggestion did not receive the votes to move forward.  In a 4-2 decision, the Commission voted to keep the current 5.4323 millage rate for the Final Budget Hearing that will take place on Thursday, September 19, 2024, in the Lakeland City Commission Chambers at 6 p.m. Mayor Mutz and Commissioner LaLonde were the dissenting votes in the 4-2 decision.

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, moving that fund to $375,000 per year.

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

Polk City                                                              5.5000

Lakeland                                                             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 Fiscal Year 2023, 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 additional police officers with the need for an additional four in FY26. 

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