Tax rate to increase by 4% in Oviedo

The Oviedo City Council approved a nearly 4% increase in the tax rate, raising it from  $5.28 per $1,000 in property tax value to $5.48, with a 3-2 vote on Monday night. 

Mayor Megan Sladek and Deputy Mayor Bob Pollack both dissented. 

“I said my piece on that. I don’t think we should raise the millage rate,” Pollack said during the meeting, referring to his requests of city staff to find cost savings in the budget to avoid the increase during this season’s budget discussions.  

In an August interview, Pollack said that residents showed their stance on tax increases when they showed up in droves to oppose the now-failed fire fee in June.  

For a resident owning a home worth $200,000 of assessed value, the city’s property tax would be $1,096 (a $40 increase from last year).

What was approved 

• A property tax increase to $5.48 per $1,000 in property tax value. 
  • The city’s current rate is $5.28 per $1,000 in property tax value.
• A $76 million budget that includes the following notable increases: 
  • A $2.1 million increase in city salaries and benefits, bringing the total to $21 million. Of the $21 million,  
    • $7 million is for police salaries and benefits 
    • $5 million is for fire rescue salaries and benefits 
    • 7.125 new employees
    • A 4% salary increase for city and fire department employees
    • An increase from $13 minimum wage to $15 for city employees
    • A 5.5% increase for police bargaining unit employees 
  •  $505,000 for vehicle replacements for the police department, public works and recreation and parks. 
  • A $1.2 million increase in operational expenses, from $6.8 million last year to $8 million this year, which Oviedo Assistant City Manager Patrick Kelly said is largely driven by increased costs due to inflation.

Local leaders weigh in

“This has been a long process but this is the end of it,” said Councilman Keith Britton. “Good job to staff and Council working on this.”

Councilwoman Natalie Teuchert, who has been a proponent of a tax increase in order to fill city staffing gaps and cover increasing costs from inflation since budget talks began, said “We had really good work by staff and listening to residents and I’m happy where we ended up.”

Councilman Jeff Boddiford singled out the Recreation and Parks Department which made deep cuts to its budget, including eliminating longtime city events, including Oviedo’s Festival of Frights, Snow Mountain and Mardi Gras. 

“Parks and Recs, I think, did an extremely good job of looking at that as a business and really looking at where they can cut some fat off of that budget there. I think it’s a good thing,” he said.  

But Sladek held out on approving the budget, mainly, she said, because of a $60,000 federal-level lobbyist that she said is not needed. 

“You guys know where I stand on keeping the fluffy stuff in,” she said. “I am the lone dissenter, mainly because of the continued inclusion of the federal level lobbyist. But it passes, nonetheless. But all the rest of the budget I love. Vast swaths of it.”

Watch the full Sept. 19 meeting