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 added value from new construction, major rehabilitations and boundary changes. City staff reminded the council that, under TRIM requirements, any increase above the amount published in the TRIM notice will require individual taxpayer notification by first-class mail; the millage tentatively adopted may not be increased at the final public hearing.

No members of the public registered to speak on the millage item. During the budget discussion that followed, one member of the public spoke on a separate line in Appendix H. Lonnie Hawkins, treasurer of International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 60, asked the city to ask operators who raise event staffing fees to pass increased fees through to hourly stagehands and riggers. Hawkins said managers are charging clients more while workers receive smaller increases and asked the city to encourage operators to pass the higher fees on to employees.

City staff outlined structural changes made to the draft budget after August workshops and in response to council feedback. The proposed transfer from Pensacola Energy to the general fund was reduced from about 20% of net revenues to 17.5% to address council concerns about reliance on enterprise transfers. Staff also described a number of other adjustments: reallocating litigation counsel costs to project budgets, deferring some computer purchases (totaling $277,700 in the general fund), reducing the general fund subsidy to the golf fund by $100,000, using remaining police pension reserve funds to cover negotiated collective-bargaining raises, and increasing the red-light camera revenue estimate from $400,000 to $500,000 based on recent collections.

Council members said they appreciated the collaboration between staff and council to reduce the Pensacola Energy transfer and discussed priorities for pedestrian infrastructure. Council Member Kelsey Lamon Breyer urged carving out sidewalk dollars specifically to complete gaps that create unsafe routes for children walking to school. Council Member Baer and others said they would support the tentative budget and noted concerns about transparency around enterprise transfers and the long-term implications of using reserves.

City staff also reminded the council that TRIM requires a second public hearing before final millage levies and budgets can be adopted; the second hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. The three resolutions before council on Sept. 3 were adopted as tentative actions; no final levy or budget becomes effective until adoption at the subsequent hearing.

Votes at a glance:
- Resolution (tentative levy) identified in the meeting as “Resolution number 20 20 five-fifty 7,” moved by Council Member Baer, seconded by Council Member Breyer; motion passed 5-0 (tally reported by the chair).
- Resolution (tentative city budget) identified in the meeting as “Resolution number 20 20 five-fifty 8,” moved by Vice President Patton, seconded by Council Member Jones; motion passed 5-0.
- Resolution (tentative Downtown Improvement Board budget) identified in the meeting as “Resolution number 20 25 dash 59” (as read aloud in the meeting), moved by Vice President Patton, seconded by Council Member Breyer; motion passed 5-0.

The meeting record and staff presentations list several specific funding and policy trade-offs that the council may revisit in a budget amendment before final adoption. The council adjourned the special TRIM hearing after completing the three tentative actions.