Palm Bay presents FY2026 budget that maintains millage, prioritizes public safety and roads

City Manager Matthew Morton and finance officials presented the City of Palm Bay’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget, maintaining the current millage rate at 6.7339 while prioritizing public safety, capital projects and road maintenance.

"This proposed budget for the city of Palm Bay is more than just a financial document," City Manager Matthew Morton said, calling it "a dynamic and thoughtful blueprint for the future of this community." Assistant Finance Director Angelica Collins told the council staff built the general fund budget on the current 6.7339 rate and stressed, "We are not increasing our tax rate. It is staying the same."

Staff presented all-funds revenues of about $324.7 million and a general fund proposal of roughly $155 million. The budget as proposed dedicates a large share of general fund spending to public safety: staff said fire and police together account for about $85 million of the general fund request. The proposal includes the purchase of four fire trucks as part of the public safety capital ask and a new $600,000 fleet replacement reserve to speed vehicle replacements after accidents or other urgent needs.

Infrastructure and roads are other key priorities. The budget includes a $3,250,000 ongoing contribution to dedicated road maintenance funding plus $1,250,000 from the local option gas tax, staff said. Officials also noted $174 million in capital contributions across funds, with GO bond projects and utilities representing major shares of the capital program.

Finance staff warned that declining one-time revenues — including the end of ARPA funds — mean future capital needs will increasingly rely on recurring revenues and reserves. Staff identified about $8.2 million of new dollars before accounting for contractual obligations, but projected union increases and rising pension contributions will consume a substantial portion of that amount; staff cited roughly $2.6 million in increased pension requirements for FY26 for police and fire combined.

If the council instead builds the budget on the charter’s 3% cap (a proposed rollback to a 6.3658 rate), staff said the city would need to reduce the FY26 request by about $3.7 million. City Manager Morton said a preliminary option to meet that cut would be to scale back the planned fire-truck purchases (for example, fund two rather than four trucks) and trim certain operational items, while keeping contingency reserves and land acquisition funding for public safety intact where possible.

On the capital side, Capital Asset Program Administrator Sean Spillers presented roughly $103 million carried forward from FY25 and about $56 million in proposed new funding for FY26, for a total capital program of approximately $160 million. Spillers said the general fund’s new capital outlays total roughly $7.9 million, with public safety and IT among the largest recipients.

Staff set two required public hearing dates for budget adoption: Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. (first public hearing) and Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. (second public hearing), with required advertisement to follow. Council members praised staff work and most expressed support for maintaining the millage while reserving debate about exact tradeoffs, particularly the number and timing of fire apparatus purchases.

Next steps: the council will hold the scheduled public hearings in September and then consider final adoption. The presentation materials and departmental details will be part of the record for those hearings.