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Tarpon Springs keeps millage at 5.37% as finance director presents draft FY27 budget
Summary
At a July 7 special and work session, Tarpon Springs commissioners authorized the city manager to sign DR‑420 at a millage rate of 5.37%, and heard a draft FY27 budget that includes an 18% placeholder for health insurance, no COLA or new positions and potential reserve impacts if a property‑tax referendum passes.
Tarpon Springs’ Board of Commissioners on Tuesday authorized the city manager to sign form DR‑420 setting the maximum millage rate for fiscal year 2027 at 5.37%, the same rate the city levied in the prior year.
“This is just, the Florida statute ... sets the procedures for the adoption of the millage rate,” Finance Director Ashley Kimpton said, then recommended that the commission “authorize the city manager to sign form DR‑420 at the maximum millage rate of 5.37, which is the same rate as the current rate.” The motion to approve the authorization was moved and seconded and passed by roll call vote.
The approval came at the start of a budget work session during which Kimpton walked the commission through a draft FY27 budget and revenue assumptions. She said the draft is based on historical actuals and year‑to‑date trends and noted taxable values increased by roughly 3.76–4% as of July 1, producing an estimated $50,000 uptick in property‑tax revenue compared with earlier estimates.
Kimpton said the draft currently includes no COLA or merit increases and no new positions. She also told commissioners she included placeholders that reflect recent cost pressures: an 18% placeholder for health‑insurance increases and a 10% placeholder for property and liability insurance. “We will continue to adjust our estimates over the next couple of months,” Kimpton said.
The presentation covered other revenue and expense items the city has flagged: a 7.75% water and sewer rate increase, sanitation tied to CPI (maximum 3%), and a large drop in FY27 anticipated PFAS settlement receipts (from a $3 million one‑time item in FY26 to about $200,000 in FY27). She also noted debt proceeds from a prior non‑ad valorem note and that transfers from utility funds to the general fund will increase with utility rate changes.
The commission scheduled follow‑up work for department‑level detail, a list of budgeted but vacant positions and additional memos on FEMA reimbursements and debt accounting. Mayor Kouliannis closed the special session portion of the meeting before the work session and reiterated two public hearings on the budget — Sept. 9 and Sept. 23 — when the public will be allowed to comment.
What’s next: staff will provide memos and a vacancies list before the next workshop; the commission will reconvene in August for the next budget workshop and hold two public hearings in September.
