WINTER HAVEN, FL — Winter Haven commissioners tentatively approved a 6.5900-mill property tax rate as part of the city’s proposed $377.27 million fiscal year 2026-27 budget.
The City Commission held its first public hearings on the millage rate and budget Sept. 15. The city has scheduled final public hearings for Monday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m.
Under Ordinance O-26-22, the proposed property tax rate is 6.5900 mills, compared with a rollback rate of 6.5567 mills. The proposed rate is 0.51% above the rollback rate. City documents project the 6.5900-mill rate would generate approximately $32.75 million for the General Fund at a 96.5% collection rate.
Ordinance O-26-23 would separately adopt the city’s $377,268,776 budget for fiscal year 2026-27, which begins Oct. 1. The city confirms the millage and budget are being considered through separate ordinances.
Commissioner Chad Davis pushed for the city to adopt the rollback rate, arguing that Winter Haven should first determine how much money it needs to operate efficiently rather than determine how much revenue can be collected by maintaining the current millage rate.
“What we have done instead is begin with the question, how much money do we receive if we keep the millage rate the same, even when that choice raises taxes on our residents during an affordability crisis?” Davis said.
Davis also challenged an estimate commissioners were given earlier in the budget process. He said they had initially been told that rolling the millage rate back would cost the city approximately $1.5 million, but said subsequent calculations showed the difference was approximately $165,000.
He argued that amount should be considered alongside the city’s reserves. Davis said Winter Haven had approximately $4.5 million in excess unassigned fund balance, with roughly $3 million remaining after the city’s commitment to Sertoma Park.
Davis also said the city’s best-practice policy calls for maintaining a 30% unassigned fund balance, while the city was sitting at approximately 35%.
“When we have that level of cushion and when rolling back the millage costs us nothing in terms of service delivery, it is disingenuous to tell residents that we respect their burden and are best positioned to cut their taxes only to raise those taxes anyway,” Davis said.
He tied his argument to residents’ concerns over rising costs, saying people are experiencing “fear, frustration, and exhaustion” and that local government has a responsibility to demonstrate that it is responsive to those circumstances.
“When we have $3 million in excess funds and when the cost of preventing a tax increase is only $165,000, refusing to adopt the rollback rate is not fiscally responsible,” Davis said.
Davis concluded that he could not support the proposed rate under those circumstances.
“Those dollars belong to the people of Winter Haven, not to us,” Davis said. “I cannot support raising taxes under these conditions.”
Mayor Brian Yates offered a different assessment of the approximately $165,000 difference.
Yates said he went back and calculated the financial impact following an earlier discussion and determined that adopting the rollback rate would save less than about $6 annually for a typical house. He said the difference on his own property would be less than $20 for the entire year.
Yates also pointed to raises for firefighters, police officers and other city employees included in the budget and said the city had already made significant spending reductions.
“Adopting the rollback rate, I’ll just use the analogy, the juice isn’t necessarily worth the squeeze,” Yates said.
Yates said he did not support adopting the rollback rate in this instance but supported additional discussions about reworking expenses and lowering city costs to allow for an appropriate millage-rate decrease in future years.
The commission ultimately voted in favor of tentatively adopting the proposed millage rate.
The debate comes as Winter Haven officials have publicly emphasized the role property taxes play in funding city services. Earlier this year, City Manager T. Michael Stavres said the city’s General Fund was $78.3 million, with $31.5 million coming from property taxes, while police, fire and code compliance operations totaled $34.7 million.
The final decision has not yet been made. Commissioners are scheduled to hold the final public hearings on the FY 2026-27 millage rate and budget at 6 p.m. Sept. 28 at Winter Haven City Hall.
SOURCE: CITY OF WINTER HAVEN CITY COMMISSIONER MEETING
