Dade City considers a 6.93 millage rate
By JOE POTTER
Dade City City Commissioners scheduled two public hearings during their meeting on July 22 regarding their proposed millage rate of 6.93 for fiscal year 2025-2026.
The public hearings will be held on Monday, Sept. 8, and Tuesday, Sept. 23.
If the proposed millage rate is adopted, it would be the same as for fiscal year 2024-2025 which ends on September 30. Fiscal year 2025-2026 begins on Oct. 1.
The millage rate is the amount of property tax charged per $1,000 of taxable property value.
Once this proposed rate is advertised, it may be decreased but may not be increased according to Acting City Manager Marieke vanErven. She told commissioners the Pasco County Property Appraiser had set the City’s taxable value for operational purposes at $812.425,019 for this year. Last year’s taxable value for operational purposes was $674,646,818, so this year’s amount is an increase of $137,778,201.
Finance Officer Peter Altman told commissioners he didn’t think an increase in the millage rate would be necessary because of the growth Dade City had experienced in the last year.
In other business on July 22, Commissioners:
Mayor Scott Black was presented the 2025 Mayor John Land Service Award for having served on the City Commission for 35 years. Eryn Russell of the Florida League of Cities presented the award to Black, who was first elected to the City Commission in 1990. Black has served as a Commissioner, Mayor Pro Tempore, and Mayor at various times while being a member of the City Commission. Several men and women who are serving with Black or who served with him in the past gathered for a photograph while the award was being presented to him. Among them was Eunice Penix, a former City Commissioner who served with Black for 27 years.
The preliminary plan for the Highlands Park Phase II Subdivision was approved.
Requirements regarding bike paths and trails, and a retention pond were included in the plan. City Staff members recommended approval of this preliminary plan following a decision on July 2 by the Dade City Planning Board.
The preliminary plan indicates there will be one full access to Morningside Drive and one full access to Clinton Avenue. It was agreed during the Commissioners’ public hearing on the preliminary plan that there would be emergency access only to Elkins Road.
The preliminary plan calls for the development of 513 residential lots within the subdivision, according to Catherine Ralston, the City’s Director of Economic Growth and Development. One hundred eighty of those lots will be 40-feet-wide; 323 of those lots will be 50-feet-wide; and 10 of those lots will be 55-feet-wide with a 7-foot setback for sidewalks, Ralston said.
The applicant agreed afterwards to discuss with an adjacent property owner whether a fence he had requested would be built, although the required landscape buffer is already included in the plan. It was also noted that the approved plan is not binding on the applicant and that changes could be made to it in the future.
Commissioners were told during the hearing that development of the Highlands Park Phase II Subdivision could occur in different phases. Ralston said the plan would be effective for six years. Additional hearings may need to be held when construction begins on the project.
Mayor Scott Black, center, is shown with Eryn Russell of the Florida League of Cities, who was presenting Black with the 2025 Mayor John Land Service Award. Current and previous city commissioners who were present during the presentation are also shown in the photograph, courtesy of the City of Dade City.
