Port Orange adopts 4.975-mill final rate and a $223.7 million FY2026 budget

The Port Orange City Council voted to adopt a final ad valorem millage rate of 4.975 mills per $1,000 of assessed value and approved the citywide fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $223,696,012.

The action came during a public hearing on the millage and the subsequent vote on the budget. The city’s taxable value for operating purposes was stated at $5,857,514,423. Council members voted 4-1 to adopt the millage and later approved the final budget by the same margin. City staff said the 4.975 rate is 4.1% above the rollback rate of 4.779 and includes a voter-approved levy of 0.1623 mills for debt service on 2006 general obligation bonds for public safety facilities, refunded in 2016.

The council and staff said the millage increase is driven by both operating and capital needs. On the operating side, the City Manager reported contractual obligations and cost increases, including higher employee pay, insurance (health, workers’ compensation and property casualty), vendor contract escalators and five new police department positions. On the capital side, staff highlighted a $3,000,000 City Center ball field repair and roughly $1,200,000 for other parks projects, including Caracci Ball Field upgrades, Memorial Park sidewalks, City Center restroom work, Causeway Park fishing pier repairs and skate-park drainage. Other items noted in the budget were $200,000 for generator replacements, about $400,000 for Spruce Creek Road paving and funds for fire engine replacements.

No members of the public spoke during the hearing. When asked about the ball-field timeline, the City Manager said work would likely “start sometime after the first year” and estimated the facility could be usable “late next summer.” Council discussion on the millage and budget was limited; no substantive amendments were offered during the votes.

Resolution number 25-44 adopted the final millage rate. Resolution number 25-45 adopted the final operating budget, which includes general, special revenue, debt service, capital, enterprise and internal service funds and is citywide in scope. The council-recorded tally for the millage vote listed Councilman Gupper, Councilman Green, Vice Mayor Groves and Mayor Sullivan as voting yes; the record shows the measure passed 4-1. The record does not specify the name of the no vote.

The adopted budget and millage set the city’s operating and capital spending plan for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2025, and ends Sept. 30, 2026.