Lakeland's proposed budget would increase employee pay. Homeowners would pay a little more

LAKELAND — Lakeland commissioners are looking to keep the city's tax rate flat while providing significant pay raises to employees and investing in infrastructure.

The City Commission voted unanimously to advertise a proposed tax rate of $5.43 per $1,000 of assessed property value for fiscal year 2024, which starts Oct. 1. While the millage rate remains the same as the current year, the city will be required to advertise it as a tax increase under Florida law, as most property owners will pay more because of rising property values.

Lakeland Financial Director Mike Brossart said the city's total taxable property value has increased about 12.15% since last year to $10.68 billion, according to Polk County Property Appraiser's office. This is in part because of significant residential growth with commercial and industrial developments.

There is a healthy increase in overall property values in each of the city's Community Redevelopment Districts. There's been an uptick of 9% in Dixieland, Brossart said, with an estimated 15% in Downtown Lakeland and 17% in Midtown.

The city will collect about $1.4 million in new construction revenues and $4.9 million more in taxable value revenues at the proposed tax rate. Lakeland's rolled-back millage, or the tax rate at which it would collect the same property taxes, would be $5 per $1,000 in assessed value.

In addition to property taxes, Brossart said the city has $4.6 million revenue from higher half-cent sales tax than originally forecast. It has collected about $300,000 more in red-light camera revenue than expected and has saved roughly $12.16 million, largely because of unfilled positions.

Proposed budget boosts employee salaries

City Manager Shawn Sherrouse is looking to take a three-pronged approach to increase Lakeland's employee salaries to make the city more competitive with the current labor market and hopefully better equipped to retain skilled employees.

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The city hired an outside consultant, Bolton, to perform an extensive wage study covering more than 1,266 full-time employees across 433 distinct job titles for wages and compensation. Based on this study, Sherrouse suggested several changes to wages and compensation for the city's general employees.

All general employees will receive a 3% across-the-board pay raise and then will be offered either a 2.5% or 3% merit increase, based on whether the individual is at the midpoint of their job title's pay range. City employees at the lower end of their job's pay range will be offered the 3% raise, and those above the midpoint would receive a 2.5% increase up to their position's maximum salary.

Those employees identified as being paid less than a competitive market rate will receive a pay adjustment, Sherrouse said, with the average individual adjustment being no greater than 5%. There appear to be some outliers, where particular individuals may receive up to a 20% adjustment, but Sherrouse said the average adjustment will be less than 5%.

Brossart said he roughly estimated the city's efforts to competitively adjust general employees' wages will cost $4 million, probably less.

Lakeland will be looking to add nine employees to its payroll in fiscal year 2024, adding 10 positions while eliminating one. The vast majority of the new positions are to meet service-delivery needs, Sherrouse said, from public safety and solid waste drivers to four water utility positions.

There is one downfall for city employees in the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget. The city's health insurance costs are expected to increase by 7.5%, resulting in higher premiums for employees, though there will be new plan options and some medication provided at no out-of-pocket cost.

What's in it for residents?

The city's proposed fiscal year 2024 budget contains funding for two targeted commission requests and two targeted infrastructural needs.

The commissioners plan to contribute $250,000 a year to Florida Southern College for its expansion of Polk Museum of Art for the next two years. The expansion will add more than 10,000 square feet of gallery, classroom and art laboratory space.

Officials also planned to earmark $1 million toward the construction of more affordable housing in Lakeland.

There's been $1 million designated for the city's purchase of property as a future site for Fire Station 8, Sherrouse said, as the city has been engaged in a long hunt for suitable property. Sherrouse has previously said it's been difficult to find an affordable site in North Lakeland. The city had funds in this year's budget for 12 additional firefighters to staff the station and has already purchase equipment, but still needs to identify a site.

Lakeland will take $1 million from its General Fund to be transferred to the Transportation Fund for road maintenance next year. Brossart said his calculations show the city will be about $188,000 short of its road maintenance schedule next year, and it's predicted to get worse with rising costs.

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Heath Frederick, the city's public works director, said the cost of milling down a road and resurfacing it have gone up by more than 40%.

"Our roads are aging," he said. "We have to do milling and resurfacing, which is much more expensive than preservation. That $1 million would help make a beneficial impact and help us keep the road standards where they are at."

Frederick said the city had already lowered its road quality standards in response to a question from the commission.

What's next?

The city will hold its first budget-adopting hearing 6 p.m. Sept. 7, which should include an overview of the full city budget. This will be followed by a second budget hearing 6 p.m. Sept. 21 where the commission will vote on whether to adopt the proposed budget. All budget hearings are scheduled to be held in the commission chambers at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland prioritizes increasing employee pay in proposed budget