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The Town of Oakland Wednesday unanimously voted to maintain a millage rate of 6.70 mills and approve a tentative budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 during its first budget hearing. The millage rate is unchanged from last year, and if the commission adopts the rate, it will be the third year the millage rate has held steady at 6.70 mills.
Finance Director Gabrielle Leon told the commission the budget prioritized “essential services and public safety” and “supported the town’s strategic goals and the residents.”
The budget hearing preceded the 7 p.m. commission meeting and lasted 45 minutes. Four residents and two news reporters were in attendance.
A second, final, budget hearing to adopt the budget will be held Sept. 22 at the Meeting Hall at 6 p.m. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Leon described the General Fund as the town’s “primary operating fund,” explaining that it pays for public safety, public works, community services and town administration. The General Fund contains $11.4 million and accounts for about 36 percent of the town’s total $32 million budget. To balance the budget, Leon said $300,000 was being taken from the town’s reserve fund.
Leon initially stated in a June 23, 2026, budget memo that reserve funds would not be required to balance the budget. But after the Orange County property appraiser overestimated the taxable value of the town by $11 million, the 2026-2027 budget needed to be re-adjusted.
“ Without those $300,000, we would have a deficit in the budget of $163,000. With the reserves, we get rid of the deficit, and we leave a contingency of $136,000.”
She added that the $136,000 “is not all the money the town has.” She said the town has four and a half months of operating funds in reserve — more than $4 million — “which is in line with GASB [Governmental Accounting Standards Board] standards.”
Ad valorem or property taxes remain the main revenue source for the General Fund, accounting for 57 percent of its makeup with $6.5 million. Leon added that even as the town’s overall taxable value had been “overinflated,” Oakland still brought in more money — $642,000 — than projected because property values increased 11.2 percent.
After property taxes, the next largest contributor to the General Fund is the half-penny sales tax at $985,000, followed by the $720,000 annual rent Oakland Avenue Charter School pays the town for its building.
The town projects $11.3 million in General Fund expenditures with the police and fire-rescue departments accounting for a combined $5.6 million and 50 percent of the expenses.
Orange County provides Oakland’s fire services for more than $2.4 million, and Leon put together a graphic to illustrate how an increasingly larger share of the town’s millage has been consumed by county fire service fees. In 2018, a third of the town’s 6.75 millage rate went to county fire services. Last year, fire service fees took up 42.4 percent of the town’s 6.70 millage. That has left 3.8563 mills to cover all town services last year and this year. The same is projected for next year.
Taylor said that he recently spoke with leaders of Belle Isle and Edgewood, which also receive fire services from Orange County, about forming a group to re-negotiate rates.
“Now that there’s new county staff and new county elected officials coming in, maybe there are some open eyes there that can look at that. Because for a town of our size — two square miles, 5,800 residents, 1,200 meters if you count units — if you say each water meter is a unit, we pay $2.4 million. That is a huge increase going from $900,000 from two years ago.”
Commissioner Kris Keller jumped in. “And to your point, our services aren’t changing. You know, we’re not getting any more service going from $900,000 to the almost $2.5 million we’re paying now. Our service hasn’t changed.”
In the Oakland Police Department, their budget of $3.1 million reflects a nearly $200,000 increase over last year, including $120,692 in compensation; $52,651 in group health insurance; and $19,000 in worker’s compensation.
Other key expenditures within the General Fund include a 3 percent cost-of-living increase for all town employees; $996,500 for debt service; $220,000 for road resurfacing; $115,000 for impact studies on fire and stormwater fees; $100,000 to update the town’s comprehensive plan; $100,000 to purchase land for a storm-related debris site; $40,000 to remove Oakland Avenue Charter School’s septic tank; and $30,000 to replace the Oakland Meeting Hall HVAC.
Some notable cost-cutting measures included eliminating $75,500 from the Public Works Department for landscaping and mowing, parks and pest control. The Healthy West Orange Arts & Heritage Center lost $21,000 from its budget, shedding $9,600 in events and $13,000 in holiday decor. The town’s grant writing budget was cut by $10,000 from $30,000 to $20,000.
