Jacksonville Beach adopts tentative FY2025‑26 budget, keeps millage at 3.9947 mills

The Jacksonville Beach City Council on Monday adopted a tentative operating budget for fiscal year 2025‑26 and approved a proposed millage rate of 3.9947 mills during the first of two required public hearings. The council also set a second budget hearing for Monday, Sept. 15, at 5:30 p.m.

The hearing opened with Mayor Hoffman reading the required statement on the proposed millage: "The budget for the city of Jacksonville Beach was prepared using the millage rate of 3.9947 mills. The rolled back rate is 3.8136 mills. The proposed millage rate of 3.9947 mills is 4.7% more than the rolled back rate," Mayor Hoffman said.

The nut graf: The tentative all‑funds budget before the council is approximately $248 million, about 5.6% higher than the prior year, and the general fund is roughly $33 million, up about 6.1%. Council members approved the proposed millage rate and the tentative budget after a presentation and brief questions of the city chief financial officer; no members of the public spoke during the hearing.

Ashley Gossett, the city chief financial officer, summarized the budget development process and highlighted key changes. "The tentative budget before you tonight is the product of almost 9 months of hard work and effort on the part of the staff and the city council," Gossett said. She told the council the city began budgeting in January and completed workshops in August.

Gossett outlined principal budget figures presented to the council: the total all‑funds budget is about $248 million and the general fund is approximately $33 million. She said taxable property values increased about 7.8 percent, representing roughly $400 million in new property value, including about $108 million attributable to new construction. She also said the city remains debt free and that roughly 40 percent of the total budget is the electric fund.

On personnel and operating changes, Gossett said the payroll budget includes new positions and anticipated contract changes, and that any pay adjustments will not take effect until council ratifies contract changes and approves an amended pay plan. "It includes about a $900,000 increase in the pension contribution for both police and general employees," Gossett said, and she added that health, life, dental and workers' compensation costs increase the city portion of benefits by about $400,000. She also said operating expenses rose by about $4.3 million over last year, noting roughly $2 million of that increase comes from internal service funds; software subscriptions rose by about $460,000 and contract services across departments increased by about $900,000, she said.

Council discussion included a $50,000 study of the Community Services Center that council had earlier agreed to move forward during budget workshops. Gossett said the council consensus was to advance that study and that the budget before the council includes that $50,000. She also said the city received a $1 million grant from the City of Jacksonville related to a lifeguard station and that an interlocal agreement will appear on a future council agenda to accept that grant; the city staff left lifeguard station funds in reserve until the project moves forward.

Council member Rogers asked whether the $248 million figure in the presentation represented total city expenditures and whether the revenue side was about $222 million; Gossett responded that the city is not running a deficit in the conventional sense but is drawing on previously accumulated reserves and pay‑as‑you‑go capital funds in years when planned projects exceed current revenues.

The public hearing produced no comments. Mayor Hoffman closed the public hearing and the council quickly moved to votes: the motion to adopt the proposed millage rate of 3.9947 mills passed on a roll call vote with Council member Golding, Council member Janssen, Council member Sutton, Council member Wagner and Mayor Hoffman voting yes and Council member Wouters voting no; one member's recorded response was not specified during the roll call. The motion to adopt the tentative operating budget also passed on roll call with the same pattern of recorded yes and no votes. The council scheduled the second budget hearing for Monday, Sept. 15, at 5:30 p.m.

The council expressed appreciation to department heads and staff for preparing the budget and closed the meeting by adjourning.