Rhea Rivera, CGFM

Director, Financial Services

Adoption of the Tentative,  FY27 Millage Rate and Operating Budget

Issue Statement: A public hearing is to be conducted on September 9, 2026, for the purpose of receiving public comments on the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 27 operating and voted debt service millage rates and annual operating budget, after which the Commission will adopt a tentative FY 27 operating and voted debt service millage rates and annual operating budget.

Recommended Action:  Adopt a tentative FY 27 operating millage and voted debt service millage rates and annual operating budget after receiving public comments on these subjects.

As part of the City’s annual budget process, this is the first of two meetings with public hearings in September leading to the final adoption of the City’s FY 27 property tax operating millage and voted debt service millage rates, annual operating budget, and special assessment rates related to various services provided by the City.

The public hearings are for the purpose of receiving comments on the proposed FY 27 operating millage and debt service millage rates and annual operating budget, after which the Commission will adopt a Tentative FY 27 millage rate and annual operating budget.  Notice was provided to property owners in the TRIM (Truth-in-millage) notice distributed by the Property Appraiser's Office in August.  

As indicated, the operating and voted debt service millage rates and operating budget are tentative.  At the September 23 Commission meeting, the Commission will adopt the final FY 27 operating and debt service millage rates and annual operating budget after receiving public comment(s). The FY 27 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Compensation Plan will also be adopted at that meeting.

Between these two meetings, September 9 and 23, there will be separate public hearings on September 14 to adopt the final fire, residential solid waste, and stormwater assessment rates. Of the three assessments, only the fire assessment is a component of the General Fund. As an important source of revenue for the General Fund, the fire assessment rate adopted will have a significant impact on the Commission’s flexibility in adopting a final operating millage rate and annual operating budget on September 23. Advertisements for these special assessment hearings were published in August; property owners were also advised of these hearings as part of the TRIM notice distributed by the Property Appraiser's Office.

The City Manager’s Recommended Budget was presented during the July 15 City Commission meeting. The operating and voted debt service millage rates and operating budget were discussed during this meeting and the Commission adopted a preliminary operating millage rate of 5.6799 mills, a voted debt service millage of 0.3136 mills for Series 2020 General Obligation (G.O.) Bonds,  a voted debt service millage of 0.1706 mills for Series 2022 G.O. Bonds for a combined debt service millage of 0.4842 mills, and the recommended special assessment rates for inclusion on the TRIM Notices distributed by the County Appraiser in August.

As discussed, the rates on the TRIM Notices are, except in extraordinary circumstances, the maximum the City will consider for FY 27 and are the starting point for Commission deliberation as to what the final adopted rates will be. Additionally, the tentative operating millage rate adopted on September 9 becomes the maximum rate the Commission may consider for final adoption on September 23.

During the July 15 Commission meeting, staff presented a summary of the Recommended Budget's key elements, including the proposed FY 27 business plan and capital purchases, grant activity, and the financial impact of the proposed recommended operating and voted debt service millage rates and assessment rates on residents. The below sections detail the proposed tentative operating and voted debt service millage rates and budget.

Tentative Millage Rates (Operating & Debt Service)

As required by the TRIM process, the first requirement of the initial public budget hearing is to adopt a tentative millage rate. The Recommended Budget included a preliminary operating millage rate of 5.6799 mills; and two (2) separate voted debt service millages of 0.3136 mills and 0.1706 mills for Series 2020 and Series 2022 of the G.O. Bonds, respectively, or a combined debt service millage of 0.4842 mills, which were adopted by the Commission.

The recommended tentative operating millage of 5.6799 mills is unchanged from the preliminary rate. This will be the twelfth reduction to the operating millage in a thirteen-year period.

The 2026 property tax base, which forms the basis of FY 27's ad valorem revenue, has increased by 6.49% in the past year to about $6.62 billion.  As part of the budget process, the City is required to calculate the "rolled-back rate", which is the millage rate that is needed to produce the same level of property tax revenue as the prior year's operating tax levy. With the property tax base increase and the proposed operating millage rate, there would be $1.7 million more in revenue than would be provided by the rolled-back operating millage rate of 5.4074 mills at a 95% rate of collection.

Although the City is reducing the operating millage rate, the total property tax collections will be higher and the City will be required to advertise a 5.04% tax increase over the rolled-back millage rate of 5.4074 mills under the State's Truth-in-Millage (TRIM) Statute.  The rolled-back millage rate only applies to the operating millage rate - it does not apply to debt service millage rates.

In 2018, over two-thirds of Oakland Park's voters approved the issuance of $40 million in General Obligation (G.O.) bonds to rebuild and enhance the City’s Fire-Rescue and community facilities.  In May 2020, the City was assigned an investment grade AA credit rating by Standard and Poor’s and in June 2020, the first tranche of bonds (Series 2020) was sold, securing $26 million of the approved $40 million. In late 2021, it became clear that large increases in the interest rates could be expected. To avoid higher interest costs, the City moved quickly to sell the remaining bonds and secure lower interest rates. In February 2022, the remaining $14 million of the approved $40 million G.O. bonds were subsequently sold (Series 2022).  These proceeds will be utilized to fund Oakland Park’s Building Our Second Century program facility efforts.  These G.O. bond proceeds are financed over a 20-year period.  The City is required to pay the bonds' debt service costs by levying the voter-approved debt service millage. 

The G.O. bond debt service to be paid next fiscal year is approximately $3.05 million, which will require a debt service millage rate of 0.3136 mills for Series 2020 and a debt service millage rate of 0.1706 mills for Series 2022.  The combined debt service rate for Series 2020 and Series 2022 is 0.4842 mills.  The Commission is asked to adopt a specific rate for each specific series.  

Tentative Budget

In July, staff presented the City Commission with a Recommended Budget of $180.6 million. The document represents a financial plan based on the policy direction established by the Commission and the best information the staff has available at this time. As changes occur and new information becomes available that impacts these plans, revisions to the budget will be needed, either as part of the adoption of the final budget or later through the budget amendment process after the fiscal year begins. The Tentative Budget is attached as "Exhibit A."  The attached FY 27 Budget Message (Exhibit B) also provides a detailed narrative and explanation of the proposed budget.  Additional details regarding the proposed FY 27 budget are included in the FY 27 Recommended Budget Book.  This document is available upon request through the City Clerk's Office. 

After adoption of the Tentative Millage and Tentative Budget, public notice is required by state law.  A tentative budget advertisement in conformance with Florida Statute 200.065 will be published in the Sun Sentinel to provide notification of a public hearing to be held on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. for the Final Budget adoption. This meeting is for the purpose of setting a Final Tax Levy and Final Budget. 

As part of the Final Budget adoption on September 23, the City Commission will also approve the Five-Year Capital Improvement Program, the City's Fiscal Policies, the Citywide Compensation Plan, and the Fees/Rates Schedule. The Five-Year Capital Improvement was presented to the Commission in June and the full document was provided as part of the recommended budget distributed in July.  The City's Fiscal Policies are adopted annually at the time of the City's adoption of the annual budget. The City's Fiscal Policies remain unchanged from March 2026, which incorporated changes allowing for reductions of up to fifty percent (50%) of City building permit and plan review fees for qualifying residential projects subject to the City's adopted budget, fee schedules, program guidelines, and applicable laws. The Citywide Compensation Plan will include all job classifications for all employee groups and updates will be made to ensure consistency with the provisions of the of the collective bargaining agreements approved by the Commission; new job classifications and modifications approved by the Civil Service Board will also be incorporated.  A memorandum from Human Resources will accompany the revised document outlining these changes. 

The recommended operating millage rate is 5.6799 mills and the combined debt millage rate  is 0.4842 mills.  The operating millage will generate about $1.7 million over the rolled-back rate for a total property tax revenue of $35.7 million, while the debt service millage will generate about $3.05 million for the debt service of the Series 2020 and Series 2022 G.O Bond due in FY 27.  This presumes a 95% collection rate.

As provided for in Florida Statute Section 193.155(1), beginning in 1995, or the year after the property receives homestead exemption, an annual increase in assessment shall not exceed the lower of the following:

For 2026, the CPI change reported by the Florida Department of Revenue is 2.7%.  As such, the maximum growth in taxable value a homestead residence can experience is 2.7%. About 61% of all Oakland Park residential properties are homesteaded. 

With the maximum taxable value increase of 2.7% and the proposed operating millage rate of 5.6799, the median, homesteaded single-family home from last year would experience a $35.40 increase, or 3.03%, in City property tax for operations, or equivalent to $2.95 a month.

 The combined debt service millage is 0.4842 mills which represents a decrease of $2.16 (-2.06%) from last year. The estimated cost to a homesteaded single-family home would be $102.59 or $8.55 a month, well below the $10.00 a month estimated cost that was shared during public educational outreach in 2018.  

To ensure compliance with TRIM requirements, it is recommended that the City Commission do the following in the indicated order to ensure proper adoption of the tentative millage and budget:  

1. Conduct a public hearing in regards to the FY 27 tentative operating and two (2) debt service millage rates;  

2. After deliberation, adopt the FY 27 tentative millage resolution.  Prior to adopting the millage levy resolution, staff must formally announce the name of the taxing authority (the City of Oakland Park, the rolled-back rate, and percentage increase over the rolled-back rate, and the millage rate to be levied); the following millage rates are recommended:

• Operating Millage: 5.6799 mills (5.04% over the rolled-back millage rate of 5.4074 mills)
• Debt Millage Series 2020: 0.3136 mills
• Debt Millage Series 2022: 0.1706 mills

3. Conduct a public hearing in regards to the FY 27 tentative budget;  

4. After deliberation, adopt the FY 27 tentative budget.