Pensacola council adopts tentative millage rates and tentative fiscal 2026 budgets; no public objections at hearing

The Pensacola City Council on Sept. 3 held a special meeting and public hearing and tentatively adopted a proposed city millage rate of 4.2895 mills and a 2.00 mill rate for the Downtown Improvement District, and approved tentative fiscal year 2026 budgets for the city and the Downtown Improvement Board.

The meeting was convened as a Truth in Millage (TRIM) special hearing required under Florida law to set tentative millage levies and tentative budgets. Amy LaBois, a city staff member who presented the budget information, said, “the reason for the proposed increase over the rollback rate is to maintain services and to meet increased costs.” The council voted 5-0 to adopt the tentative millage resolution and separately voted 5-0 to adopt the tentative city budget and the tentative Downtown Improvement Board budget.

The tentative millage of 4.2895 mills for the city combined with the 2.00-mill Downtown Improvement District rate represents an 8.06% increase in property taxes above the aggregate rollback rate of 4.0883 mills, the council heard. The rollback rate is the millage that would yield the same ad valorem revenue as the prior year, excluding…