Lakeland adopts $746.9M 2024 budget
LAKELAND — Lakeland officials have adopted a $746.9 million budget for next fiscal year that holds the tax rate flat. Many residents, however, will wind up paying a little more in property taxes.
City commissioners voted unanimous to approved the $746,962,838 budget for fiscal year 2024, which starts Oct. 1. The General Fund, which covers the city's personnel and daily operating expenses, will have a budget of $172.6 million, or roughly 23% of the Lakeland's total budget.
The city's adopted millage rate is $5.43 per $1,000 of assessed property value. This means a Lakeland homeowner with an assessed property value of $150,000 will pay the city approximately $814.50 in taxes for the upcoming year.
2024 budget highlights
The 2024 budget contains over $9.8 million in new expenditures, City Manager Shawn Sherrouse said, aimed at addressing issues in seven strategic areas:
Infrastructure
Economic development
Affordable housing
City Hall communications
Parks and recreation
Public safety issues
To help address the city's infrastructural issues, Sherrouse said roughly $1.36 million have been set aside to build more sidewalks and trails to improve interconnectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists. The city also plans to install dynamic parking signs at the downtown garages to address residents' complaints about availability of parking downtown.
There is $1 million set aside in next year's budget by the commission to help support affordable housing initiatives. This is in addition to $1 million in designated American Rescue Plan Act funds. The commission often taps these funds to support developers in exchange for affordable, low-income housing as having a local money pledged to a proposed project increases the odds of landing state and federal funding.
Lakeland has designated about $623,000 to hire 12 personnel for the Lakeland Fire Department over the course of the next year. Sherrouse said these employees will help the fire department implement a "Kelly Day" system to help reduce overtime by firefighters by providing an additional day off, as was negotiated as part of the union's latest contract with city.
The city has designated $230,000 to sponsor individuals interested in becoming firefighters or police officers into academies for training. This helps improve the city's odds of recruiting individuals to work in Lakeland.
2024 Budget: Lakeland's 2024 budget will increase employee pay, most homeowners to pay a little more
Dispute over funding city priorities
Commissioner Bill Read was the sole vote against the city's appropriation of the 2024 budget on Thursday night. At first, Read sought to have the $1 million designated for affordable housing reallocated toward the construction of Fire Station 8 in Northwest Lakeland.
Gloria Hodgdon, president of Foxwood Lake Estates, appeared before the commission at the Sept. 7 budget presentation asking for a temporary fire station as soon as possible. Hodgdon said the community has been promised a fire station dating back to 2019 and there's a clear need based on delayed response times.
"We had a lot of citizens last time in favor it. I want to accommodate them. I think our public safety is paramount," Read said.
His motion to designate $1 million for the station failed to find support among city commissioners.
Commissioner Stephanie Madden suggested an alternative: designating $1 million from the General Fund's cash reserves toward future construction of a fire station, without taking it from the affordable housing fund.
The city generally aims to keep 45 to 60 days of operating costs in reserve three years out in 2026, based on a series of conservative predictions about property growth. Under the current budget, it would have an estimated 80 days of cash-on-hand in fiscal year 2026.
The city still has not secured property for construction of Fire Station 8, Sherrouse said. While the city has obtained an appraisal for a possible site, it is now waiting for the property's owner to obtain a proposal so negotiations can move forward. Lakeland may have other options to consider when funding construction of a fire station, Sherrouse said. He did not elaborate, other than indicating the city could borrow money if and when it was needed.
"If the goal is to build into the budget so that we would do it, faster. I don’t think we’ll do it any faster. We will do it as quickly as we can do it," Mayor Bill Mutz said.
Sherrouse suggested the commission could look to make an adjustment to the budget at the mid-year point to allocate funds for a station.
"We will have a better understanding of what that cost will be," he said.
What pays for the General Fund?
Lakeland anticipates collecting more than $55.2 million in property taxes from residential homeowners, commercial and industrial property owners across the city. This provides revenue for about 32% of the General Fund's budget.
Sherrouse highlighted that city's collected property taxes will not fully cover operation of Lakeland Police Department, coming in at nearly $55.4 million next year. It's the singular largest expense in the city's General Fund.
The city's utilities will pay an estimated $44.5 million in dividends — this includes Lakeland Electric, the city's water and wastewater services. This is the second largest source of revenue available to the city. Others include $12.3 million in surplus funds from the current year and $12.2 million in fees charged for services.
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland adopts $746.9M 2024 budget
