Lynn Haven Commission Adopts Tentative 4.2834 Millage; Finance Panel Recommends Using Reserves for Bond Payment

The Lynn Haven City Commission voted on Sept. 2 to set a tentative millage rate of 4.2834 for fiscal 2025–26 and approved a tentative city budget, following extended discussion by a finance review committee, staff and members of the public.

The Finance Review Committee and city staff presented a proposed budget that includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for city employees and an estimated $606,000 increase in total personnel costs. Committee member and finance presenter Michael Snyder (committee member name as recorded) recommended the millage “should be set at 4.2834” to balance the general fund while excluding the 2019 bond debt service payment from that calculation; commissioners were told the budget will draw $2.8 million from the city’s unassigned fund balance to cover that annual bond payment.

The commission recorded a roll-call vote adopting the tentative millage: Commissioners Wark, Purnell and Tinder voted yes; Commissioner Peebles and Mayor Jesse Nelson voted no. The commission also adopted a tentative overall municipal budget for FY 2025–26 in a separate vote. City staff emphasized the vote tonight set a ceiling for TRIM (Truth in Millage) notices and that a second meeting later in the month will finalize and adopt the budget.

Key figures and items presented to the commission included: - An included 3% COLA for employees to respond to inflationary pressures; staff said that COLA accounts for about $329,000 of the budget increase and total personnel cost growth of about $606,000. - A $2.8 million annual payment to the 2019 hurricane disaster recovery bond that the city proposes to cover from reserves in FY 2026. - A proposed millage increase described as a 10.21 percent rise over the rollback rate of 3.8866. - A range of large capital projects and grant-funded public safety investments identified by the finance committee: station remodels, apparatus purchases funded partially by FDEM and state appropriations, and various infrastructure projects included in the proposed budget package.

Public commenters and some commissioners pressed for additional expense reductions. Several speakers urged a department-by-department prioritization exercise and recommended targeted rather than across-the-board cuts. Commissioner Peebles and others said policy updates — for example, changes to procurement thresholds and purchasing rules — should accompany any audit or deeper review of spending.

Staff also told the commission it will present a utilities rate study in the coming months with two treatment scenarios for wastewater — expanding the city’s plant versus connecting wholesale to Bay County — and an updated impact-fee review; those options will affect utility rate assumptions in future budgets.

The commission’s vote sets the tentative tax rate and is a procedural step under the Florida TRIM process; commissioners may revise the millage and the budget at the required final hearing later this month before adopting the final numbers.