Dade City Budget of $62,969,607 Considered
By JOE POTTER
Dade City Commissioners held their first budget hearing during their Sept. 8th meeting regarding the proposed budget of $62,969,607 for fiscal year 2025-2026, which begins Oct. 1. No comments were made during the public hearing that preceded Commissioners voting 5-0 to approve the first reading of the budget.
A second public hearing and adoption of the budget is scheduled for Sept. 23rd.
The budget for fiscal year 2024-2025, which ends Sept. 30, was $56,100,335, so the FY 2025-2026 budget would be $6,869,272, or 12.24% more than last year’s budget.
“A substantial portion of this increase is attributable to capital projects, which represent significant investments in the city’s infrastructure and long-term growth. Additional cost drivers include personnel additions to meet expanding service needs; service level growth to keep pace with continued residential development; and inflationary impacts affecting goods, services, and operational costs,” said part of a transmittal letter prepared by Finance Officer Peter Altman and presented to Commissioners by Acting City Manager Marieke vanErven.
Dade City’s advertised millage rate for FY 2025-2026 would be 6.6208 mills if the budget were approved. Each mill represents $1 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. If approved, the tentative millage rate of 6.6208 mills would equal the rolled-back rate. Once this proposed rate is advertised, it may be decreased but may not be increased, vanErven previously said.
In other business, City Attorney Patrick Brackins told Commissioners that he was preparing a contract regarding the pending employment of vanErven as City Manager at a salary of $100,000 per year. He added that the contract should be available for Commissioners to review during their Sept. 23rd meeting.
Miss vanErven initially received votes from three of the Commissioners for that position on Aug. 18th, while the other semifinalist candidate, Ken Griffin, received two votes. Commissioners then unanimously agreed to offer vanErven the position of City Manager. She has served as Acting City Manager since the resignation of former City Manager Leslie Porter on Oct. 10, 2024.
Also, Commissioners approved on their second reading ordinances annexing approximately .60 acres of property on Marlu Lane into the City and changing that property’s Future Land Use Map designation from Pasco County’s Residential (RS-6) designation to Dade City’s Public/Semi-Public designation. This was necessary so the property could be used as part of the extension of Morningside Drive between U.S. Highway 301 and State Road 52.
