Coral Springs sets FY2026 tax notices, schedules September TRIM hearings; preliminary assessments advanced

Coral Springs city commissioners on July 29 voted unanimously to set public hearings and advance preliminary resolutions that will allow the city to notify taxpayers under Florida's Truth in Millage (TRIM) process and hold final budget hearings in September.

Staff presented the fiscal year 2026 budget and business plan and asked the commission to accept proposed assessment rates and set the formal hearings. The commission agreed to advertise and hold the required tentative and final budget hearings on Sept. 15, 2025, at 5:15 p.m. and Sept. 25, 2025, at 6:30 p.m., respectively, in City Hall Commission Chambers.

The action matters because the TRIM notices will show the city's proposed operating rate and assessments that affect Coral Springs homeowners and businesses. Staff said the proposed operating millage rate remains unchanged at 6.0232 mills; the city's rollback operating millage was calculated at 5.6443 mills. Staff also reported that the voter-approved debt millage is anticipated at 0.1659 mills for FY2026.

At the meeting staff summarized budget highlights and service-level proposals. Staff reported a projected general-fund surplus for the year-to-date projection, surpluses in the fire fund and projected deficits in the city's health and insurance funds that the city plans to cover. The presentation listed several proposed assessment changes for FY2026: a proposed $21 residential increase in the fire assessment, a proposed $20 solid-waste assessment increase, a stormwater proposal calculated per ERU that would increase the typical single-family home by $4.35, and a proposed 12.6% increase in the water and sewer fund rates affecting only customers in the shown "pink" water district (staff estimated an average increase of about $10.20 per month for that district). Staff also noted the city is proposing to collect about $5.85 million more than the prior year, which triggers the requirement to advertise a proposed tax increase under state law unless the commission reduces the millage.

Staff gave additional budget context: the city encumbered $20 million in ARPA funds by the Dec. 31, 2024 deadline and must complete associated projects by Dec. 31, 2026; the grants team reported about $3.7 million in awarded grants so far this year versus $3.3 million last year; Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funding totals were shown as approximately $794,000 and $237,000, respectively, and staff identified proposed uses including Lions Park improvements, home repair assistance and youth scholarships. The presentation also highlighted capital and operational items, including 25 requested new positions (12 of them firefighters), ongoing stormwater projects in Commerce Park, Meadows and Dells, and a finalization of a stormwater master plan with Westchester targeted in FY2026.

Commission discussion was practical and procedural. Several commissioners asked staff for additional comparative data before final adoption: mayoral and commissioner requests included a five-year comparison of tax-based components and a breakdown of operating versus debt millage over five years. One commissioner asked staff to return with options to reduce the proposed $20 solid-waste increase, noting the city's healthy financial position and asking staff to identify $602,000 of alternatives before a final vote. Staff said the preliminary actions before the commission tonight set the public-notice processes and do not lock the commission into final amounts.

Formal votes taken by the commission (all recorded as unanimous 5-0) accepted resolutions to set public hearings and to direct notice as follows: the fire-assessment resolution (Resolution No. 2025-31) to set the hearing for Sept. 15; the preliminary solid-waste assessment resolution (Resolution No. 2025-028) for Sept. 15; the preliminary stormwater assessment resolution (Resolution No. 2025-029) for Sept. 15; the nuisance-abatement assessment resolution (Resolution No. 2025-030) for Sept. 15; TRIM-related actions setting the proposed operating millage (6.0232 mills), the rollback rate (5.6443 mills), the anticipated voter-approved debt millage (0.1659 mills) and the required tentative and final budget public-hearing dates; and adoption of the FY2026 business plan as the framework for staff work in the coming year.

Commissioners and staff repeatedly reminded residents that the city's portion is only part of the overall property-tax bill (staff cited that the City of Coral Springs accounts for less than 30% of a typical property tax bill), and that the county property appraiser will publish TRIM notices. Staff encouraged residents to attend Budget and Brews sessions and other outreach options and noted they are available to answer questions between now and the September hearings.

Next steps: staff will prepare and transmit TRIM notices, publish the required legal advertisements in early and mid-September, present more comparative millage and component data requested by commissioners, and return with final budget and assessment ordinances and resolutions for formal adoption at the scheduled September hearings.