Oviedo staff propose FY2025–26 budget adjustments; council debates restrooms, SRO funding and millage math

Oviedo — City finance staff presented a set of proposed adjustments to the FY2025–26 budget at the Aug. 25 work session, highlighting updated state revenue estimates, several targeted expenditures and questions about longer-term pension and capital pressures that will affect future budgets. Finance director Kelly (presenting staff) said updated state distributions raised the city’s anticipated revenue by several hundred thousand dollars — including an increase in revenue sharing and in the local option sales tax allocation — and that those increases enabled staff to add a set of departmental items within the FY26 proposal while keeping the city’s total millage rate unchanged. Highlights and proposed additions: staff presented $419,646 in net proposed increases paired with additional revenue sources. Notable line items included purchasing two police motorcycles by paying off existing leases, converting a police record specialist from part time to full time (to handle rising records-request/redaction workloads), maintenance and small-tools purchases for parks, a reclassification and funding of a facilities maintenance technician, and restroom renovations. Restroom renovations: budget proposals included $75,000 to renovate three restrooms at Fire Station 48 and a combined $64,875 to renovate three second-floor restrooms in City Hall (the packet showed about $139,875 for both projects combined). Council members questioned whether the second-floor City Hall restrooms required immediate replacement and several members asked staff to prioritize repairs where they produce the most public benefit; afterward council directed staff to proceed with Fire Station 48 improvements and to revisit the City Hall scope, with staff identifying the two smaller IT-area restrooms as higher priority than the larger single restroom near the conference room. School Resource Officer (SRO) funding: council members asked about a change from the Seminole County School Board that reduced funding for one SRO from 100% to 50%. Staff confirmed the board had changed its funding posture for one officer and warned that the city could absorb a one-year gap if necessary but that sustained reductions would create a recurring budget pressure; council members asked staff to pursue longer-term funding discussions with the school board and with the city’s legislative advocates. Millage, rollback and contingency: staff said the proposed operating millage rate remains 5.961 mills (plus a 0.114-mill GEO bond portion for Oviedo On The Park) for a total of 6.075 mills, unchanged from the previous year. Because the rollback calculation and state thresholds place the proposed operating millage above a prescribed percentage, the budget adoption will require four of five council votes (a supermajority). Finance staff also warned that pension-actuarial changes and other long-term liabilities are likely to increase costs in future years; they urged caution about using one-time or consumption-based state revenue for recurring purposes. Next steps: staff will finalize fee schedules and return in September for the formal budget hearing and adoption. Council asked staff to prepare follow-up analyses on restroom scope, the SRO funding change and contingency planning for possible state policy changes. Ending: Council agreed to continue work toward a balanced FY26 budget and asked staff to return with focused options for the restroom work, SRO funding scenarios and any recommended changes to the millage presentation ahead of the September public hearing.