Holding Auburndale’s Tax Rate Steady Now Takes Four of Five Votes
Auburndale commissioners get their first look at the proposed 2027 budget Monday, and a vote on the property tax rate that a new state law made harder to pass.
The commission meets at 7 p.m. in the Commission Room at City Hall. Mayor Alex Cam presides, with the invocation by Pastor Gene Bassham of New Hope Fellowship and roll call by City Clerk Brandon Henry.
The millage vote
The city’s existing millage rate is 4.2515. The rolled-back rate on the 2026 Certificate of Taxable Value is 4.2500, the rate that would produce the same ad valorem revenue as the prior year.
Staff recommends approving 4.2500 as the rolled-back rate and 4.2515 as the proposed operating rate. At the current rate, ad valorem proceeds would rise $678,591 over last year. The proposed budget is balanced using 4.2515.
Florida Senate Bill 4-F makes the rolled-back rate the new baseline for the highest millage a governing body can adopt by simple majority. Per the city’s staff analysis, that means adopting 4.2515 requires a four-fifths vote. The analysis says the change is intended to limit automatic growth in property tax revenue from rising property values and make increases more transparent and deliberate.
Once set, the rate can be lowered but not raised above 4.2515 without the expense of re-advertising to all property owners.
Budget schedule
The City Manager presents the proposed budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2027. Copies are handed out at the meeting. The document is posted at auburndalefl.com.
Commissioners will set public hearings for Thursday, Sept. 3 and Tuesday, Sept. 15, both at 7 p.m. at City Hall, and set Thursday, Aug. 20 for Commission Day and a budget work session if needed. Further discussion can happen at the Aug. 17 regular meeting.
SunTrax rezoning
Ordinance #1851 comes up for second and final reading. It would rezone 19.32 vacant acres at Pace Road and the Polk Parkway from Industrial Planned Development to Commercial Highway. Future land use stays Regional Activity Center.
The petitioner and owner is the Florida Department of Transportation. The city approved a land use and zoning change on the adjacent property to the south in September 2016, which is now SunTrax, the state facility with a test track for autonomous vehicles and toll testing technology. Properties to the west were annexed in January 2026 and given the same designations. The request brings the remaining 19.32 acres in line with both.
According to the staff analysis, FDOT has shown an intention of expanding SunTrax with air mobility testing technology, research and development, and testing bays for autonomous modes of transportation.
Commercial Highway zoning permits automobile service stations, hotels, restaurants including drive-in, retail, commercial recreation, veterinary, sales and display lots, package and retail sale of alcohol, financial institutions, offices, clinics, laboratories and mini-warehousing.
The Planning Commission recommended approval 5-0 on July 7. The ordinance passed first reading July 20.
Cemetery rates
Ordinance #1852 also comes up for second and final reading. It amends Section 8-15 and deletes Section 8-16 of the city code, removing the codified rates for cemetery spaces and services in the city’s three cemeteries and instead authorizing the City Manager to establish prices and fees for all cemetery sales and charges. It adds a 2.5% annual adjustment for all cemetery fees.
Staff based the proposal on a survey of Winter Haven, Lakeland, Lake Wales and Bartow. The last two changes came in 2023 and 2012. The new schedule takes effect Oct. 1, 2026. The ordinance passed first reading July 20.
Also on the agenda are minutes from the July 20 special workshop and regular meeting, announcements from the City Manager and City Attorney, and public comment.
Sources: “City of Auburndale City Commission Meeting Agenda, August 3, 2026,” City of Auburndale, auburndalefl.com; Ordinance #1851, City of Auburndale; Ordinance #1852, City of Auburndale
