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Dunedin presents budget snapshot: $133M revenue, strong reserves but storm costs press cash flow
Summary
City officials said Dunedin’s total revenue is roughly $133 million, expenditures about $139 million, and general-fund reserves sit at about 21.4%, above the city’s 15% policy target; leaders outlined interfund loans and a bank line of credit to bridge storm-related cash needs.
City Manager Jennifer Bramley told the 2025 State of the City audience that Dunedin’s total revenue across funds is approximately $133 million while city expenditures in fiscal year 2025 totaled nearly $139 million, and that the city has worked to build reserves ahead of storms.
Bramley said only about 24% of property-tax collections come back to the municipal government and that property tax accounts for about 15% of the city’s total revenue; other income streams include water and wastewater fees, stormwater, solid waste, parks program revenue and user fees.
She noted Dunedin’s general‑fund reserves are estimated at 21.4% of general fund personnel and operating expenditures—well above the city’s 15% financial‑policy target—and said those reserves gave the city flexibility to respond to storm costs without immediately issuing long-term debt. Bramley told the audience that maintaining strong reserves has been a multi‑year effort tied to sound budgeting and that rating agencies monitor reserves closely.
To cover short-term cash needs before reimbursements arrive, Bramley described two tools: interfund loans (internal, up to three years) and an external tax‑exempt line of credit; she said borrowing from internal funds avoids issuance costs and that the city expects to repay short‑term loans when FEMA and state reimbursements are received.
Bramley also broke down operating and personnel shares of expenditures: operating costs represent about 52% of expenditures, and personnel costs represent about 28%.
The presentation noted Dunedin holds a strong S&P rating (described by the speaker as “a double a plus” rating) and credited multi-year fiscal choices and prior commissions’ decisions for preserving that rating.
The city emphasized continuing a “slow, steady, stable” budgeting approach in 2025 while balancing recovery spending and capital projects.
