With the approach of a new fiscal year in October comes a new Tallahassee budget. The city announced its plans for a new budget of around $784.5 million in 2015.
City Manager Anita Favors Thompson released her recommended 2015 budget Friday afternoon. The budget includes just over $681 million for the city's operating budget and $103.5 million in the capital budget.
Heath Beach is the manager of the Office of Budget and Policy for the city. He acknowledges the proposed budget is around $8 million lower than the present year's, but "that reduction is not to service levels. Those are various operating expenses that we've reduced in some of the funds outside of the general fund."
A workshop took place at the City Commission Chambers on Monday to discuss budget details. As it is, the proposed budget retains the current city property tax rate and level of existing services. Beach says the public is encouraged to attend open hearings about the budget set to take place in two and a half months.
"In September of every year, governments are required to hold two public hearings on the budget. That's in order to adopt the millage rate and to adopt the operating budget and capital budget for the city. And currently we are not proposing any increase to the millage rate. It will be flat, and this will be the fifth consecutive year that it has remained at 3.7 mills," Beach says.
The fiscal year 2015 budget incorporates input from the City Commission, citizens who attended community budget meetings and from an online citizen survey.
The new budget will take effect on Oct. 1, 2014.