Wellington council adopts $155.9 million FY2026 budget, keeps millage at 2.47

WELLINGTON, Fla. — The Wellington Village Council on Sept. 18 adopted a fiscal year 2025–26 budget of about $155.9 million and maintained the village's property tax rate at 2.47 mills.

The second public hearing culminated with unanimous votes to approve Resolution R2025-64, which sets the millage rate, and Resolution R2025-65, which adopts the annual budget. Council members voted 5-0 on both items.

The budget presentation, delivered during the hearing, described a $6.9 million (4.7%) overall increase from the current year driven largely by capital improvements, enhanced public safety and expanded facilities. Officials said Wellington's total proposed FY26 budget across all funds is $155,900,000, and that revenues exceed $156,000,000 when including certain transfers and reserves.

Budget staff said ad valorem property taxes represent roughly 20% of village revenues and that Wellington would collect about $31,190,000 in ad valorem revenue under the proposed millage, an increase of about $1.77 million from the prior year. The mandatory rolled-back disclosure read at the meeting said the proposed 2.47-mill rate is 6.36% higher than the rolled-back rate of 2.32 mills. The presentation noted that while the millage is unchanged, individual taxpayers may see higher bills if assessed values rose.

Officials provided concrete examples from the property tax impact illustrations used in the presentation: a homesteaded property with a $450,000 assessed value would see an approximate $32 annual increase in Wellington's portion of ad valorem taxes; a comparable nonhomesteaded example showed about a $111 annual increase. The presentation also showed that Wellington receives about 12 cents of every property tax dollar paid by a typical local homeowner; the largest shares go to the local school district and Palm Beach County.

Council members and staff emphasized community input used to shape the budget. Presenters said staff used three public-engagement platforms'survey analytics, a budget challenge tool called Balancing Act, and a flash vote'and cited roughly 325 participants in the budget engagement survey. Officials said 64% of respondents were comfortable keeping the millage rate the same or raising it to fund services.

The FY26 general fund budget was described as approximately $73 million, with an unassigned general fund balance projected at about $20 million, or 28% of operating expenditures, after planned use of reserves. Presenters said the village has nearly $10 million in active grant funding and more than $27 million in grant funding received from 2013 to 2024 for completed projects.

Council discussion included praise for staff work on a stable, long-term budget and multiple councilmembers thanking departments involved in grant and capital project work. The council opened the public hearing and noted there were no public comment cards submitted for this item.

Votes at a glance: - Resolution R2025-64 (adopt millage rate 2.47 mills): Motion moved; second not specified in record; vote 5-0, passed. - Resolution R2025-65 (adopt FY2025–26 annual budget): Motion moved; second not specified in record; vote 5-0, passed. - Consent agenda (as presented, including an inspection-period extension listed on the consent agenda): motion and second recorded earlier; vote 5-0, passed.

The council also read the statutorily required budget disclosure, noting the proposed millage of 2.47 mills would generate the revenue figures reported and described an operating-budget increase of about 11% over the prior year in the governmental budget figures presented. The council concluded the hearing by adopting both resolutions and thanking budget staff for the presentation.