Oakland approves tentative budget, higher millage rate

The Oakland Town Commission discussed several options at its Sept. 9 budget hearing before deciding on a higher millage rate to offset the increase in fire taxes approved by Orange County Fire Rescue. The county is contracted to provide fire and rescue services to Oakland and three other Central Florida municipalities.

In June, the commission had proposed a tentative balanced budget of $9,149,168 with no increase to the town’s millage rate of 6.3 for Fiscal Year 2024-25. July 12, Oakland received a letter from OCFR notifying the town it was increasing the millage to its Municipal Service Taxing Unit rate from 2.2 to 2.8, which raised its fee by $521,497. The new MSTU rate for FY24-25 is $2,065,081.

Town staff looked for ways to cut the budget without sacrificing services to residents, and July 23, the commission approved a tentative millage rate of 6.9 to offset the proposed county increase.

In earlier meetings between Oakland and Orange County, the town requested to be charged solely on volume and requested a one-year deferral with no payment difference. Oakland finance director Gaby Leon said both requests were denied.

The county offered two options at the 6.9 millage rate: to pay in full or to defer it for the first year and pay it back in three years.

Leon explained several other options to the commission: Drop the millage rate to 6.3, as originally proposed in early summer, which would leave no money in the town’s reserves; choose the payment plan and set the town’s millage rate at 6.6, which wouldn’t leave much money in reserves; or keep the new proposed millage rate at 6.9 and pay in full, which would allow the town to retain more in reserves.

Mayor Shane Taylor suggested adopting a millage rate of 6.7, which would increase by $105 annually the tax bill for a home worth $300,000.

“There seems to be some sort of sweet spot at pulling $125,000 out of the reserves and then paying Orange County in full that would still give us money left over in the town to use for who-knows-what could happen,” Taylor said. “I think that’s pretty sustainable.”

Taylor added that the town only will “take a hit” in the first year. The tax bill for developers will help offset the cost.

“When we get caught up, we will stay at that level for a few years,” Commissioner Sal Ramos said. “There’s also commercial coming up. … In the next three to five years, we will start to do what we did 10 to 12 years ago (dropping the millage rate). … We will be back at 6.3 eventually.”

In a memo to the commission, Leon shared details of the rest of the current budget changes:

• The updated budget reflects a savings of approximately $54,000 to employee health insurance due to the town switching from United Healthcare to Florida Blue. The updated budget reflects a 3% increase to general liability insurance and workers compensation insurance. The updated budget includes an increase to attorney fees and to auditing fees due to recent resignations by both firms.

• The General Fund budget still includes 4% COLA for all employees and includes a 2% increase to retirement contribution for sworn officers to be competitive with other agencies. A compensation study also is included in the budget to assist with employee turnover and compression.

• The Enterprise budget still includes a 4% COLA for employees. The updated Enterprise budget shows an increase to solid waste due to a change in providers.

• The Impact Fee budget now reflects an increase of $100,000 to Transportation Impact Fees for Catherine Ross Road and an increase of $50,000 to Wastewater Impact Fees for Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal System (OSTDS) Remediation Plan. There was also a decrease of $169,000 to Water Impact Fees for the alternative water supply project.

After much discussion, the commission approved unanimously a tentative General Fund budget of $9,797,759 and a tentative millage rate of 6.7 — which reflects paying the county in full — and set the final public hearing for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.

TREE AGREEMENT

At the regular Town Commission meeting following the budget hearing, the elected officials approved a tree replacement agreement with the Southern Oaks Homeowners Association.

Earlier this year, the town contracted a licensed dredging company to remove sediment from Lake Apopka and place it in a fill area. A portion of the fill area was on private property under the ownership of the Southern Oaks HOA, which maintains the sediment could potentially cause harm to trees in the designated area.

Town Manager Andy Stewart said the town obtained soil samples, a survey and an arborist tree report.

The agreement requires the town to maintain and replace any trees that fall or die prior to May 13, 2029, within the fill area.

MORE PARKING IN TOWN?

Town events are growing in popularity, but with that comes the need for more parking for attendees, Taylor said. Local churches have thus far been accommodating the town with open space for parking.

Stewart was given approval to conduct a public parking and traffic study as the town continues to look for more parking options. At the same time, the town and Oakland Avenue Charter School have been looking for ways to reduce traffic on Oakland Avenue during school drop-off and pick-up.

The study will look at open space on the southwest corner of the school property that could tackle both issues.