Doral council adopts $118 million FY2025-26 budget and sets tentative millage at 1.7166 mills after heated rollback debate

DORAL, Fla. — The Doral City Council voted to adopt its fiscal year 2025–26 budget and to set a tentative operating millage rate of 1.7166 mills at a regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 17, 2025. The council approved the budget ordinance (No. 2025-36) and the millage resolution after extended public comment and an hour-plus of debate about whether to roll back the rate to the county-determined rollback level of 1.5875 mills.

The budget ordinance on first reading passed on a 3–2 roll-call vote (Councilman Pinedo and Councilwoman Reynoso joined Mayor Christie Fraga in favor; Councilwoman Cabral and the vice mayor voted no). The millage resolution passed by the same margin. The council also set the debt-service millage for general obligation bonds tied to parks and recreation projects at 0.481 mills.

Why it matters: The chosen millage determines the city portion of property tax bills and a rollback would have returned more immediate tax relief to some property owners. Council members who opposed the rollback argued that cutting recurring operating funds now would force reductions to services — including police staffing, parks and special-needs programs — or require deeper cuts later if statewide property-tax reform reduces local revenue.

Public comment and resident concerns

Dozens of residents spoke during the public-comment period, with multiple speakers urging the council to lower the city’s millage. Jose Dones, who identified himself as president of Laurel, urged the council to “roll back to 1.5875 property tax millage and give us at least some tax relief.” Rachel Mazur told the council that “our property values have increased tremendously on paper, but our income has not,” and urged a rollback so families and small businesses can remain in Doral. Several small-business owners, including Tal Mazur, described large increases in property costs and said a rollback would help preserve long-standing local businesses.

Administration presentation and the budget numbers

Finance Director Solangel Perez told the council the proposed FY2025–26 budget is balanced and is based on the proposed millage rate of 1.7166 mills. Perez said the total general fund proposed expenditures are $118,003,105 and that the budget uses fund balance for one-time capital outlays in the amount of $18,970,368 (the administration described that amount as funding capital project outlays, not recurring operations). She also reiterated that the proposed millage is 8.13% greater than the rollback rate identified by the County Property Appraiser’s office.

Assistant City Manager and CFO Fernando Casamajor described a proposed 5% cost-of-living adjustment for non‑sworn employees, saying the increase was intended to keep city salaries competitive with neighboring jurisdictions and to reduce turnover. Casamajor also outlined that the police budget and public-safety staffing are substantial parts of the operating budget.

Council debate: rollback vs. services and future-proofing

Vice Mayor (identified in the record only by title) pressed for an immediate rollback to the 1.5875 rate, saying the city must start “reducing our budget and eliminating waste” in advance of potential state-level property-tax reform. Several council members and the mayor countered that a rollback now would require operating cuts that could affect police staffing, senior programs, and newly launched special‑needs services.

Mayor Christie Fraga said the council must plan for longer-term revenue diversification. “We create revenue‑generating assets for the city so that we are not dependent on your taxes,” she said, describing a strategy of developing fee-generating facilities (including an amphitheater parking garage and other capital assets) to reduce future reliance on property taxes.

Specific contested items raised during debate

- Council staff and mayoral office staffing: Vice Mayor and other councilmembers criticized recent additions of three staff positions tied to the mayor’s office and a sworn officer assigned as a security/driver; staff numbers and associated compensation were discussed in detail. The manager’s office and finance director confirmed the three positions (Hispanic outreach coordinator, constituent services coordinator, and communications/protocol coordinator) total about $321,335 in direct salary costs; an assigned sworn officer’s salary was discussed in the range of roughly $104,000 plus benefits.

- One‑time capital projects: Council members discussed budgeting for conceptual design and planning costs for a new police headquarters (budgeted in the CIP at approximately $8.1 million) and a proposed parking garage at Doral Central Park (approximately $5.15 million in the CIP transfer-outs). City staff said these figures are design and conceptual budget lines and that actual construction would require later council approvals.

- Employee compensation and benefits: Casamajor explained the proposed 5% COLA is intended to bring non‑sworn salaries to market levels to retain and recruit staff; other cost increases cited by staff included higher liability/property insurance tied to the park coming fully online.

Police staffing and response times

Council members expressed concerns about traffic crash response times and asked the police chief to look for ways to reallocate sworn staff to reduce prolonged traffic blockages without increasing the baseline operating budget. The chief said reducing response times without additional staffing is difficult but that existing units (aggressive driving unit, motors, park response unit, school resource officers) have been active; he committed to meet with the manager and staff to identify possible reallocations.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to table resolution setting tentative millage (Item 6a) — motion to table made by Councilman Pinedo, seconded by Councilwoman Reynoso; motion passed on roll call (recorded vote in minutes). The item was later taken from the table for final action.

- Ordinance No. 2025-36 (adopt FY2025–26 budget) — motion to table on first reading passed earlier; later taken from the table. Final first-reading approval: motion to approve made by Councilwoman Reynoso, seconded by Councilman Pinedo; final roll-call vote: Yes — Councilwoman Reynoso, Councilman Pinedo, Mayor Christie Fraga; No — Councilwoman Cabral, Vice Mayor; Outcome: approved on first reading.

- Resolution establishing tentative millage 1.7166 mills (Item 6a) — motion to approve made by Councilman Pinedo, seconded by Councilwoman Reynoso; roll-call vote: Yes — Councilman Pinedo, Councilwoman Reynoso, Mayor Christie Fraga; No — Councilwoman Cabral, Vice Mayor; Outcome: approved.

Next steps and context

Council members set a follow-up meeting on Sept. 30 for continued consideration and the second reading of the budget. Several council members said they remain open to receiving line‑item operational savings proposals with specific page citations so staff can model changes before second reading. Multiple speakers at the public podium said they would continue to press for a rollback and for state-level tax reform aimed at homestead exemptions.

Ending

The ordinance and resolution were adopted on first reading and the council scheduled continued consideration for future readings. The meeting concluded with council direction to staff to return with more detail on suggested cuts and with the city manager and department heads prepared to respond to specific line‑item proposals.