Dunedin CRA accepts clean audit, adopts $11.24 million FY2026 budget

The City of Dunedin Community Redevelopment Agency on Sept. 18 accepted an unmodified independent audit for fiscal year 2024 and adopted the agency’s fiscal year 2026 budget, approving planned CRA expenditures of $11,241,000 and estimated CRA revenues of $11,442,000.

The audit, presented by Jeff Wolf of the auditing firm, returned a clean set of reports including an unmodified opinion on the financial statements and no findings in internal controls or compliance with applicable Florida statutes, the auditor said. Les Tyler, the city’s finance director, said the audit reflects the CRA’s compliance with reporting and statutory requirements.

Why it matters: the audit affirms the CRA’s financial reporting and compliance; the adopted FY2026 budget authorizes continued capital and operating activity downtown and carries a millage rate the city commission set tentatively at 4.1345 mills.

The audit presentation emphasized compliance over numerical adjustments. “This was a clean audit and there's really no compliance issues with the city's CRA,” Jeff Wolf said during the meeting. Wolf told commissioners the audit focused on whether tax increment financing (TIF) revenues were calculated and deposited correctly and whether expenditures complied with CRA plans and policies.

In his budget presentation, Tyler said year-over-year totals are similar to FY2025: the proposed FY2026 expenditures of $11,241,000 are close to last year’s $11,473,000; the revenue estimate of $11,442,000 is roughly $300,000 higher, largely because debt proceeds for a parking garage were budgeted in both years and required additional proceeds in 2026.

The CRA advisory committee reviewed the tentative CRA budget at its Sept. 3 meeting and voted unanimously to recommend adoption, Tyler noted. The city’s tentative millage rate — adopted July 11 by the City Commission and applied to the CRA fund as part of the broader city tentative budget — will be brought back for final adoption at a city special meeting on Sept. 23.

Votes at a glance
- Approval of draft minutes from the May 22, 2025 CRA meeting — motion carried unanimously.
- Acceptance of the FY2024 CRA independent audit (independent auditor’s unmodified opinion; no findings) — motion carried unanimously.
- Adoption of Resolution 25-02, CRA annual and capital budget for fiscal year 10/01/2025–09/30/2026 — motion carried unanimously.

What commissioners said: there were no substantive questions raised about the audit. Commissioners Walker, Sandbergen and Dugard each registered “no questions” during the presentation; the commission then approved the resolution in a roll-call vote where all members present voted aye.

The adopted budget includes the same broad categories of capital projects and operating programs as the prior year. Tyler said the primary driver of the slight revenue increase was budgeting parking-garage debt proceeds in both years; he did not provide additional line-item changes during the public meeting.

Looking ahead: the city will return the tentative millage for final adoption at the Sept. 23 special meeting. The CRA’s long-range plan and the FY2026 budget exhibit remain part of the staffing packet attached to Resolution 25-02.