West Palm Beach presents balanced $282.8 million FY2026 general fund budget; millage unchanged

Brigitte Souffrant, chief financial officer for the City of West Palm Beach, presented a proposed, balanced fiscal year 2026 general fund budget of $282,847,804 at a community budget meeting. She said the draft budget keeps the city’s operating millage rate at 8.1308 and reduces the debt-service millage by 0.0053 to 0.058.

Souffrant said the proposed budget prioritizes public safety while maintaining library, parks and recreation, sanitation, housing, engineering, economic development, small and minority business support, code enforcement and development services. “The fiscal year 2026 proposed general fund budget is balanced at $282,847,804,” she said.

The nut graf: The proposal preserves core services and funds new public-safety hires and vehicle replacements, but remains a draft until final state revenue figures and the city’s September public hearings. The City Commission will consider tentative adoption at hearings set for Sept. 8 (tentative) and Sept. 24 (final adoption), with the budget effective Oct. 1 if adopted.

Key details and drivers

- Property values and revenue: The County Property Appraiser’s Office reported final assessed values of $25,491,873,099 on July 1. Souffrant said that final values were about $103 million higher than the June 1 projection and $2.14 billion (9.4%) higher than fiscal year 2025 values. Using the current millage rate of 8.1308, she said the new values would generate roughly $11,540,000 in additional tax revenue.

- Revenue mix: The general fund’s largest revenue source is property taxes (52.7%), followed by charges for services (19.2%). Souffrant said charges for services are expected to increase by about $6,400,000 (13.4%), driven by an administrative fee paid to the general fund by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), public utilities, permitting revenues and increased sanitation collection fees. Intergovernmental revenue is projected up about $497,000; licenses and permits up about $467,000; and other taxes up about $569,000. Transfers into the general fund are projected to decrease by $606,000, mainly because a $600,000 item previously shown as a transfer from the CRA is now included in the administrative fee.

- Expenditures: Total proposed general fund expenditures rise in most categories. Personnel services are projected to increase by $9,800,000 (5.4%), including a 4% health insurance increase, cost-of-living adjustments, step increases for public safety, increased pension contributions and funding for new positions. Souffrant said approximately $5,000,000 of the personnel increase is allocated to newly funded positions.

- Staffing and positions: The proposed budget includes funding for 42 new public-safety positions — 33 in the police department and nine in the fire department — and several non-public-safety positions such as a procurement supervisor, a finance manager in housing and community development, a senior employee relations specialist in human resources, a recreation program coordinator and a digital marketing specialist in the library. City Administrator Faye Johnson said the city currently has about 1,217 employees funded in the general fund and roughly 620 additional employees funded from other funds, for a total near 1,820 city employees.

- Capital and equipment: The proposal continues a vehicle replacement plan (funded with a mix of fire assessment fee funds, one-time funding and general-fund dollars) with $2,000,000 included for the program and roughly $3,700,000 identified for police vehicles tied to the department’s collective bargaining agreement. Capital outlay is shown up about $1,500,000 (66%) primarily for police vehicle expenses. Souffrant said a second year of a computer replacement program is also funded.

- Other program funding and policies: The draft budget maintains funding for community programs such as Soul in the City, waterfront events, Police Athletic League programming, the Police Explorer program, an elementary grant program, the mayor’s Jumpstart Academy, homeless assistance programs, community paramedics and the Keep West Palm Beach Beautiful program. Contingency is increased to 1% of the general fund, consistent with city policy.

Process, timeline and public engagement

Souffrant described the budget timeline (department submissions beginning in January, preliminary values in June, final values in July) and said the draft is not final until the city receives final state numbers and updates internal service charges. She said the city’s community engagement tool is open through Sept. 7 for questions and feedback. The city will hold a commission meeting Aug. 18 to set final fire-assessment and chronic-nuisance assessment rates, a tentative-budget public hearing on Sept. 8, and a final public hearing on Sept. 24; if adopted, the budget would take effect Oct. 1.

Questions from the public

A resident who said she had chaired the city’s finance and pension committees under former Mayor Lois Frankel asked how many individuals the $5,000,000 personnel increase represented. Souffrant responded that 42–47 positions were included; City Administrator Faye Johnson then clarified the city’s staffing counts. Steve Sylvester, another attendee, asked for clarification about how rising assessed values affect tax revenue; Souffrant explained that the taxable value multiplied by the millage rate determines estimated tax revenue.

Where the proposal stands

The presentation documents the draft general fund budget and the commission must still hold required public hearings and adopt the millage and final budget before Oct. 1. Souffrant emphasized the draft nature of the plan and that some figures (for example, internal service charges) will be updated before the Sept. 8 hearing.