The Apopka City Commission on Monday postponed setting a tentative property tax rate for fiscal year 2026–27 after commissioners failed to reach consensus on a proposed increase.

The commission took no action in the special meeting, leaving the matter to be revisited at another special meeting Thursday before the approaching Truth in Millage (TRIM) deadline.

Finance Director Blanche Sherman reiterated city staff’s recommendation for a tentative operating millage of 5.1876 mills, a 0.75‑mill increase over the current 4.4376 mills. She outlined several alternative millage scenarios but said the recommended rate would generate about $6.6 million in additional property tax revenue from the increase itself, on top of roughly $4.4 million expected from growth in the tax base.

Mayor Nick Nesta emphasized that Monday’s discussion was limited to setting a tentative millage rate rather than approving the city’s final budget.

“The goal for this is to then bring it back to our staff members and really start to drill down and remove what we can remove,” Nesta said. “There are going to have to be cuts at the end of the day. That’s a non-negotiable. There will be cuts and hefty cuts.”

Residents offered sharply differing views on whether the city should increase the millage rate.

Resident Rod Olsen said the city can no longer postpone infrastructure investments.

“We’ve hit the wall,” Olsen said. “We have got to put the infrastructure in place.”

Retiree Jim Grumberg said he supports the increase, describing it as the cost of essential services rather than a simple tax hike.

“I don’t want to see a tax increase, but … I see it as paying for services,” Brumberg said. “I look at it as how quick do I want that fire department to be at my house if I have a fire. I look at it as how quick do I want my police there when I get a break-in. I look at it as – and I’ve had many an EMT come to my house, and I want to know how fast they’re going to be there the next time I call them.”

Business owner Matthew Hutchinson said rising property insurance and taxes have already strained homeowners and commercial property owners.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t go up on the millage, but I think I’m really happy that you’re having this dialog here because the community kind of pushed back on it,” Hutchinson said. “I think you got to dive a little bit deeper into it.”

Hutchinson also questioned the timing of creating new executive positions while asking residents to absorb a tax increase.

Commissioner Sam Ruth said overtime costs have been “systemic” for years and called the current spending levels “daunting.”

“I’m comfortable where we are,” Ruth said. “I don’t see us going backwards. I see us, even at where we’re at the 0.75, we’ve got to do a lot. I see frivolous spending that we can actually hone into, and we can push these numbers back towards the traffic infrastructure to support these.”

Commissioner Yesenia Baron also supported the tentative 0.75-mill rate increase, saying the city can continue reducing expenditures before adopting a final budget.

“We need to be able to take care of what we have, make sure that we are going through line by line items and making sure that we are removing the fat, if you will, on what we have in our budget,” Baron said.

Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez said she spent the weekend reviewing the budget line by line and believes departments should prioritize projects they can realistically complete during the upcoming fiscal year.

“Allocating money for projects that we know we’re not going to get to is hurting this budget,” Velazquez said, while also citing overtime and unfinished infrastructure projects as concerns.

Commissioner Nadia Anderson maintained her opposition to a 0.75-mill increase, arguing the commission should identify spending reductions before asking taxpayers to pay more.

“If we’re able to go back and make cuts later, why can’t we make the cuts now?” Anderson asked. “How are we able to obtain the trust of the residents if we campaign on low taxes and the first thing we do when we get in office, we agree to raise all these taxes?”

After Baron indicated she would move to set the tentative rate at 0.5 mills, no motion was ultimately made before Nesta postponed consideration until Thursday’s special meeting.