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, less than $700,000 for the year." (City Manager Morton)

Why it matters: the operating millage funds general government services, including police and fire. In the public statement read for the record, staff said contributing to the increase were police and fire pension contribution obligations of $11,000,000 (a 30.6% increase compared with the prior fiscal year), $2,900,000 in high-priority funding needs, a $2,500,000 contingency set-aside, $4,500,000 for heavy fire rescue vehicles and related equipment and $3,250,000 for annual road maintenance investments. The tentative debt millage statement also itemized debt service payments on general obligation bond series 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Council action and votes: the council first voted 4-1 to take the procedural step of exceeding the states 3% rollback cap so it could consider rates above that cap. Deputy Mayor Jaffe, Councilman Hammer, Councilman Langevin and Mayor Medina voted in favor; Councilman Johnson voted no on that motion. After multiple motions and unsuccessful attempts to find a compromise rate (members proposed 6.7339, 6.59, 6.65, 6.5 and other figures during the discussion), Councilman Johnson moved to set the operating millage at 6.7. The roll call on that motion was Deputy Mayor Jaffe, aye; Councilman Johnson, aye; Councilman Hammer, aye; Councilman Langevin, nay; Mayor Medina, aye. The motion to set the operating millage at 6.70 passed 4-1. A subsequent motion to set the debt millage at 0.993 passed unanimously.

Positions and concerns: Council members who supported a higher rate said it was needed to provide operational stability, to fund planned public safety equipment and to avoid leaving the new city manager with insufficient contingency. Councilman Langevin and Deputy Mayor Jaffe repeatedly argued for giving the new city manager tools to operate: "He needs to have the tools to be able to do it," Langevin said. Councilman Hammer and others pressed for lower rates; Hammer said many residents told him they were uncomfortable even with a 6.5 rate. Morton warned repeatedly about limited reserves at lower rates: at 6.5 he said the city would be left with "true emergency contingency" in the roughly $500,000 to $700,000 range after accounting for likely labor settlements.

Next steps: this vote set a tentative operating millage to meet statutory advertising and TRIM notice requirements. The council will reconvene for required final public hearings and final adoption; staff noted the rate and final budget resolution will be returned for a subsequent hearing and formal adoption.