Palm Bay council breaks 3% cap and sets tentative operating millage at 6.70 after lengthy debate

The Palm Bay City Council voted 4-1 to set the citys tentative operating millage rate at 6.70 and unanimously approved a debt millage of 0.993 after more than two hours of discussion about pension costs, vehicle and facility needs, and the size of the citys emergency reserve.

City Manager Morton read the statutorily required public hearing statement that the city had tentatively adopted an operating millage rate of 6.7339 for fiscal year 2025-26 and that the rate exceeded the TRIM (Truth in Millage) current-year aggregate rolled-back rate of 6.4071 by 5.1 percent. Morton told council staff had modeled lower rates: "I took the budget calculations down as low as a 6.5 tentative millage rate, which would require an additional cut of $2,334,000 and change. I've identified those cuts, which will leave us basically with a net operating reserve of,…