By Julia Roberts
The Fernandina Beach City Commission adopted a millage rate that will bring in enough ad valorem tax revenue to allow its budget to include a $608,000 contingency fund.
The commission voted 4-1 to approve a millage rate of 4.6849, and a budget based on the revenue generated by that millage rate.
City Manager Sarah Campbell gave a presentation showing the budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year is $240 million, with a $608,000 surplus, which was placed in contingency. The budget eliminates 17 positions, funds $28 million in capital projects, puts $44 million in the general fund (which covers the general government operations) and meets the 20% reserve required by the state.
The commissioner who cast the dissenting vote was Vice Mayor Darron Ayscue, who said the city is bringing in more and more money with each passing year, and advocated for a rate that would be “tax neutral.”
“The proposed millage is $800,000 over what a rollback rate would be. If you look at what we did the last two years, that is close to $1 million, plus right at around $800,000 from the rollback, just doing the modified (rollback rate), we are right around 10%, even with the modified rollbacks, increase in that revenue,” Ayscue said. “That, to me, over two years, is a phenomenal number. Ten percent over the rollback rate. We’ve grown the government 10%, and that’s with the modified (rollback rate). We have brought in, as a city, now, if we do this $1.3 million plus the $1 million-ish last year, $2.3 million of recurring revenue over the last two years. $2.3 million. To me, that’s just an absurd number. It really, truly is.”
Commissioner Joyce Tuten said the cost of running the city is going up, and so the extra income is needed.
She listed a $700,000 increase in union wages for the fire department, a $170,000 increase in workman’s compensation insurance and an almost $300,000 increase in health insurance.
“Last year, we weren’t on track to pave enough streets in order to pave 72 miles of roads; we are this year, that’s a $34,000 increase, audit costs are up 100%, IT costs are up, postage is up,” Tuten said. “There’s so many increases that we are all feeling. I don’t think it’s possible to go to the rollback rate.”
“I disagree,” Ayscue said. “We’re still getting $800,000 of additional revenue that is coming in every year, just at the modified rollback rate. That’s plenty of money to do everything. When you look at how we are absolutely spending a ton of money, seriously. Two modified rollback rates is $1.8 million, about 10%. Now, we are going to go even more, and higher. I’m trying to get tax neutral, that’s it. I’m not even trying to cut anything for the ad valorem. Just trying to get tax neutral.”
Commissioner Tim Poynter noted that inflation is affecting everyone, including the city.
“All these various things have gone up, like it has with everybody else in this community. The city is not exempt from that,” Poynter said. “Their gas they put in their cars (which has) has gone up like everyone here. This is bare bones. We are not identifying with so many things that need to get fixed, and when we keep, year after year after year, going to the rollback, going to a modified, we have no dollars to fix the things, so things just keep getting pushed down the road, (which is) why we are where we are with the downtown, with beach walkovers and so on.”
After the commission approved the millage rate, it unanimously approved the budget based on that millage.
