Auburndale manager lays out $87.3M FY2026, $97.2M FY2027 biennial budgets; public hearings set for September

City Manager Jeffrey Tillman presented the City of Auburndale’s proposed biennial budgets on Aug. 4, saying it is “with great honor to present for the City Commission’s review and consideration the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-2026 and Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Proposed Biennial Budgets.” The proposal recommends total spending of $87,310,094 for FY2026 and $97,209,890 for FY2027 and incorporates the first two years of an updated Five‑Year Capital Improvement Plan.

Tillman told the commission the budgets fund major utilities and infrastructure work that the city says are necessary to support ongoing growth, including design or construction for the Gapway Force Main, the Northern Force Main, the Southern Force Main reroute, and the Hickory Road Sprayfield. The Public Utilities Fund proposed budget for FY2026 is $27,280,191 (exclusive of interfund transfers), with a proposed interfund transfer of $3,435,166 to the General Fund.

The proposed operating millage rate is 4.2515 mills, which staff said will remain the lowest municipal rate in Polk County. Preliminary taxable values for 2025 were listed at $2,883,110,138, producing an estimated $11,640,000 in ad valorem revenue. Tillman said the FY2026 General Fund budget includes $4,570,000 of reserve funding counted as revenue and allocates $5,050,000 of reserve funding as expense for future projects, including park improvements at Lake Myrtle.

Staff identified several large General Fund expenditures in FY2026: redevelopment of the Public Works facility ($1,880,000), Lake Myrtle Ski Lake improvements ($1,700,000), street resurfacing and a portion of the Auburndale‑TECO Trail ($1,350,000), purchase of a fire pumper truck ($761,164), eight police vehicles ($688,181), and design/engineering for Fire Station #2 ($500,000). The proposed payroll budget supports 231 full and part‑time positions in FY2026, an increase of 12 full‑time equivalent positions; staff proposed a 4% cost‑of‑living adjustment for FY2026 and none for FY2027.

Tillman also noted personnel cost pressures, reporting that the city was notified of a 38.6% increase in health insurance premiums that will raise total health insurance costs to an estimated $2,391,893 in FY2026. He said utility capacity constraints have tempered near‑term growth projections but that the city is studying an expansion of wastewater treatment capacity from four million to six million gallons per day to accommodate future development.

The commission was told the proposed budgets are balanced across all funds and that the commission will consider any changes at its Aug. 18 meeting. Public hearings for the proposed budgets and millage rate were scheduled for Sept. 4 and Sept. 18, 2025, prior to final adoption.