Town advances first vote in favor of 2026 budget

The town of Longboat Key’s 2026 budget is moving forward as the Town Commission took the first of two votes required to adopt the millage rate and budget for the 2026 fiscal year at its Monday, Sept. 8 meeting.

Property taxes will remain the same if the proposed budget is adopted, with a 2.5543 millage for gulfside and 2.1371 for bayside properties. Property tax revenue is expected to increase 5.8% due to increased valuation of properties and the opening of the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort despite a decrease in property values from houses damaged from hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“Even though we are levying the same amount of property taxes, we’re expected to bring in more revenue because the valuations have changed,” said budget manager Erica Waggoner.

The general fund, which includes day-to-day operations and payroll for the town, will have $23.9 million in expenditures. About 80% of expenditures go toward wages and benefits, and pay raises are budgeted for employees of the town as cost-of-living adjustments as well as merit-based pay increases. Firefighters are getting a 9.3% raise and police are getting a 5.3% raise.

The town has $41.9 million in outstanding debt and will pay $6.9 million in loan repayments in 2026. As much as $1.5 million of that will go toward interest. The town has received $8.6 million in grants and has millions in more grants pending, including from FEMA.

Capital improvements budgeted in the 2026 fiscal year include $40.2 million for utilities, including the subaqueous wastewater line. Another $9.1 million separately goes toward utility undergrounding, and $9.2 million goes toward street improvements. Total expenditures with all funds, including capital projects and enterprise funds, is $122.9 million.

The town must hold one more public hearing and one more vote to adopt the 2026 fiscal year budget, which begins Oct. 1. The public hearing will be held at Town Hall at 5:01 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22.