- December 4, 2025
Ormond Beach residents are likely to see an increase on their property taxes, as the city moves forward with a 10.2% tax rate increase over last year's.
On Tuesday, July 22, the City Commission voted unanimously to set a tentative millage rate of 4.5220 mills — or $4.5220 per $1,000 in taxable property value. The proposed rate is 15.82% above the rollback rate of 3.9024 mills, or the rate that would generate the same amount of tax revenues as last year’s rate.
With the city seeking to address needs that some officials said "have been kicked down the road" for years — including the funding of police salary adjustments, parks and recreation projects and needed vehicles — City Commissioners agreed that a tax rate increase was acceptable.
"I wouldn't personally ever go to pull from first responders," City Commissioner Kristin Deaton said. "We have to take care of them. ... I would love, love, love to save money for our residents, but I understand it's probably not the time."
The average homesteaded resident with a taxable property value of $250,000 will see an increase of $106.92 in their tax bill, or $8.98 a month.
So what will the city's $143 million dollar budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 cover?
Last year, the city approved salary market adjustments for police officers, and used money from reserves in its workers' compensation plan to fund it.
But the city is in need of an ongoing revenue source, and as such, this year's budget allocates $1 million toward that, said City Finance Director Kelly McGuire during a workshop prior to the City Commission meeting.
"These are ongoing expenses, obviously," she said. "So we need to have an ongoing revenue source."
Additionally, the city is anticipating $1.8 million of funding needed as a result of the new collective bargaining agreements, which are slated to start on Oct. 1.
The tax rate increase will also help fund new vehicles for its general employees — public works, building inspectors and leisure services.
"This is the one that we have not adjusted in probably 15 years, and those vehicles are getting more and more expensive," McGuire said.
She echoed the same sentiment when it came to police vehicles, of which the city has committed to replace nine each year. The fire department also asked for an ATV with trailer to be able to perform rescues in smaller areas and for a new set of extrication equipment.
These items, when taking into account a reduction in millage from the voter-approved debt for Andy Romano Beachfront Park, have added 0.4240 mills to the tax rate.
The budget is also accounting for $200,000 for enhanced code enforcement; $25,000 for flood mitigation software; $105,000 for security at City Hall; and $210,000 for three new jobs, an IT analyst and two parks maintenance employees.
"Staff is usually been very good about coming to us when they actually have a need, not a want," City Commissioner Harold Briley said. "That these vehicles need to be replaced and we have to have some of these positions is because they're needed."
On police wages and pensions, Mayor Jason Leslie said that the city wants to make sure they remain competitive with the surrounding cities.
"We want to be able to hold good staff and good employees and good police officers and fire, and the only way to do that is to offer them a good compensation," He said.
The commissioners spent a good deal of time during the workshop trying to see if there were budget items that could be cut.
One item quickly gained consensus — the $100,000 line item for traffic calming measures in the downtown.
With the ongoing work by the Florida Department of Transportation in the Granada Boulevard corridor, which has narrowed traffic lanes and added concrete medians, commissioners felt like the corridor has been impacted enough.
"To do $100,000 for traffic calming in our downtown after FDOT just redid the pattern, slowed it down, and now you want to add another sign to tell people how fast they're going?" City Commissioner Travis Sargent asked. "Think of how this is going to look. Drive down to A1A and look what they've done to all the signs. It's horrible, and now we want to do it in our downtown?"
But, seeing as the traffic calming measures were to be funded with Community Redevelopment Agency dollars, the cut won't affect the millage rate; those dollars will go into the CRA reserves, and may be used for another project within the district.
The commission was also looking at a few other options to cut from the budget: downtown public art, neighborhood traffic calming, the Riviera Park fishing pier and the redevelopment of Nova Field 1, which has been pushed off the budget for at least three years.
Commissioner Lori Tolland said she didn't have a problem with where the money was being spent.
"I think we're doing what's been done in the past," she said. "We worry, worry, worry in trying to keep everything so low, and I think it's just time that we take hold of it and do the things that we need to do — that we've all bee complaining about up on the dais."
The first public hearing for the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
