September 21, 2026 Town Council Second Budget Hearing — Agenda Breakdown

The tax rate: 7.2938 mills, final

What it is. Resolution 2026-49 makes the rate final at 7.2938 mills, which is $729.38 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value. That is the same rate the Council adopted as its tentative rate on September 9, according to the resolution. It is also the rate the Town has charged since at least 2013. The resolution states that the rate is "more than the rolled-back rate of 6.8565 mills by 6.38%." The rolled-back rate is the rate that would raise the same property-tax dollars as last year on this year's values. Taxable value in the Town is certified at $427,218,601. The Town budgets $2,991,405 in property tax, which the budget describes as "Net of 4% Collection Allowance." The first-hearing breakdown explains the rolled-back rate in full.

Where the vote sits. On September 9 the rate was on the consent agenda, ahead of the hearing. Tonight it has its own item, after the hearing. That order has a question of its own. Florida's budget law, §200.065(2)(e)1, sets how these hearings run:

• The first thing discussed is "the percentage increase in millage over the rolled-back rate necessary to fund the budget."
• The public "shall be allowed to speak and to ask questions before adoption of any measures."
• The Council "shall adopt its tentative or final millage rate before adopting its tentative or final budget."

The agenda lists the budget first and the rate second. The order of items on an agenda does not by itself set the order of the votes; the Chair can take the rate first.

One label to know. The budget book's summary page labels the property-tax line "Ad Valorem (5.4373)." The rate in the resolution, and the rate that produces the $2,991,405, is 7.2938. The book does not say what 5.4373 refers to.

Worth watching. Whether the Chair takes the rate resolution before the ordinance vote, and whether the hearing opens with the 6.38% discussion the statute puts first.

The budget book: new pages, same numbers

What it is. A formal budget book, "Proposed Budget, Fiscal Year 2026 - 2027," with:

• a guide to the budget process;
• an organizational chart;
• a budget calendar;
• a sample tax notice;
• fund-by-fund summaries;
• department pages;
• a glossary.

It puts every fund on one summary page. It is also the first budget document in this year's hearing packets to include the CRA.

The totals. On the summary page (p. 17):

The General Fund figures are the same as on September 9, including the $384,972 drawn from the Town's reserves to balance it. The Capital Projects Fund is the same $8,631,105 on both sides.

Where the other $968,206 goes. Revenue on the summary page is $968,206 more than spending. The fund pages show where that money is placed:

• $892,086 is a "Designated BOD Reserve" on the CRA fund page, shown below its total spending. The next section explains it.
• $40,286 and $35,834 are labeled as the projected surpluses of the water/sewer and stormwater funds.

The total in the ordinance. The ordinance is unchanged since September 9. It still states the budget "in the amount of $8,631,105.00," which is exactly the Capital Projects Fund. It also still dates the first hearing "Tuesday, September 9, 2026." September 9 was a Wednesday, and that is how the first-hearing agenda dated it. Last year's ordinance used a different measure: its $8,663,539 was the four operating funds together.

What the book says about amendments. Its budget guide says any budget amendment that raises a fund's spending must be "approved by the Town Council." That matches Section Three of the ordinance.

The CRA in the Town's budget: the version from before September 17

What it is. The book's CRA fund page (Fund 303). The September 9 packet had no CRA page, as the first-hearing breakdown noted.

It is the CRA budget from before the September 17 vote. The CRA board's budget came to its September 17 meeting at $5,612,448.32. The board adopted it 6–1 after removing two lines: $892,083.46 counted as owed by the Town, and a matching $892,086.46 "Board of Directors Reserves." The Town's page still has both:

• Revenue of $5,612,448, including "Due from Town - Prior Year TIF" of $892,083.
• Spending of $4,720,362, with a "Designated BOD Reserve" of $892,086 shown below it.

Neither of the board's changes appears. The same page shows the CRA's budget for this year also carried a "Due from Town - Prior Year TIF," of $322,000.

Two figures for the Town's payment. On the CRA page, the Town pays the CRA $1,842,932 in tax increment, and the CRA sends $1,618,339 back as a "TIF Rebate." Orange County pays $1,119,433 and gets $993,526 back. The summary page groups the two rebates as "Payments to Other Governments" of $2,611,865. The Town's own General Fund, in the same packet, still budgets $232,136 for "CRA - Town TIF Payment." Its revenue pages have no rebate line and no line for paying the $892,083. Netted out, the CRA page has the Town paying $224,593, while the General Fund budgets $232,136. The gross amounts differ by about $1.6 million.

The borrowing. The CRA page also lists the $1,700,000 "Seacoast Bank Housing Project Line of Credit" as financing, and $1,280,000 for the "Seacoast Housing Project" as capital spending. That is the CRA's line of credit for six single-family homes, covered in the CRA breakdown.

This year. The worksheets still show $1,789,254 recorded as paid to the CRA through the "CRA - Town TIF Payment" account as of May 31, against a $230,000 budget. No Town packet has explained that figure.

Worth watching. Five of the seven CRA directors sit on this Council. At the CRA meeting, the CRA's General Counsel said adopting the CRA budget with the $892,083 in it would acknowledge the debt. The board took it out for that reason. The Town's book, as posted, still has it in.

What the posted record leaves open

Answered. The CRA now appears in the Town's budget book. The second-hearing date made it onto the Town's portal. The rate resolution is no longer on consent.

Still open from September 9.

• The reserve balance the $384,972 draw comes from.
• The $0 contingency.
• The ordinance's $8,631,105.
• The $1,789,254 paid to the CRA this year.

New tonight.

• A CRA page that still shows the $892,083 and the reserve the CRA board removed.
• The "5.4373" label on the property-tax line.
• An agenda that lists the budget before the rate.

Worth watching. Whatever passes tonight is the budget on October

1. If the Town's budget later has to match the CRA's adopted figures, that would take an amendment by resolution.