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Vice mayor urges rollback to keep tax bills flat as commissioners weigh cuts
Summary
Commissioners debated whether to hold the millage at 5.7062 — which would raise many homeowners' bills because assessed values rose — or adopt the rollback rate and cut roughly $1.8 million in programs; staff offered illustrative cuts and commissioners asked for more specific options.
At the workshop Vice Mayor Cook emphasized that keeping the millage the same would increase residents' tax bills because property values rose, pressing staff to consider the rollback rate in lieu of across-the-board increases. "If we're gonna keep the millage rate the same, then that means that people's tax bills are gonna go up," Cook said.
Commissioners voiced differing priorities: some favored preserving additional staff and new services to prepare for projected growth, while others urged fiscal restraint and recommended delaying management benefit investments such as proposed 457 contributions and car allowances. Manager Frank Lisonbee said staff compiled a painful but feasible list of cuts to reach rollback; the commission directed staff to return with a refined set of reductions and a clearer reconciliation of FY24–25 versus FY25–26 figures.
The vice mayor said the scale of the proposed year-over-year increase — more than 60% in expenditures in materials presented — made retaining the current millage uncomfortable without clearer ties to resident-facing benefits. Commissioners asked staff for a specific, itemized path to achieve the rollback if the commission asks for it in future meetings.
