Dade City Commission Votes Tonight on Final Tax Rate for 2026-27 Budget

Dade City commissioners meet tonight at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 38020 Meridian Avenue, for the final public hearing on the fiscal year 2026-27 budget, and the vote they take will set exactly how much every property owner in the city pays in city taxes for the year starting Oct. 1.

Commissioners already gave first-reading approval last month to a tentative operating millage rate of 6.2322 mills and a tentative budget of $84,516,877, covering the fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30, 2027. Tonight's hearing is where those numbers become final, or get adjusted one more time.

City Finance Officer Peter Altman told commissioners back in July that TRIM notices mailed to property owners this year could show a proposed rate as high as 6.6208 mills. He also flagged an alternative: a "rolled-back" rate of 6.2333 mills, which is calculated each year to bring in roughly the same revenue as the prior year even as property values rise. Florida law lets cities lower a rate below what was advertised on the TRIM notice, but never raise it past that ceiling. The 6.2322 figure commissioners tentatively approved in September already sits close to that rolled-back number, meaning most homeowners are looking at a tax bill close to flat rather than the steeper jump the earlier 6.6208 figure would have produced.

Because the rate can only go down from what was advertised tonight, not up, the practical range for homeowners is narrow: somewhere between the 6.2322 mills already on the table and the slightly lower 6.2333... rolled-back figure Altman described in July. Either way, city tax bills are expected to land close to last year's despite rising property values, a notably different outcome than the steeper 6.6208 rate would have produced.

What else is on the agenda

The budget vote follows two other decisions that have been moving through the commission this summer. Commissioners approved, 4-1, a pre-annexation agreement for the Maggard family's 92.6-acre property at the southwest corner of U.S. 301 and Clinton Avenue, with Mayor Pro Tem Normita Woodard casting the lone no vote after questioning what the agreement means for future annexation. The land currently sits in unincorporated Pasco County.

Commissioners also gave unanimous first-reading approval to a school-zone speed camera ordinance, dubbed the "School Zone Child Safety Initiative." It would install cameras at Rodney B. Cox Elementary, Pasco Elementary, Pasco Middle and Pasco High School that flag vehicles speeding through school zones, with citations reviewed by a special magistrate rather than issued automatically. Under the proposed ordinance, violators would face a $100 fine: $40 goes to the state, and of the $60 the city keeps, $20 goes to the camera vendor, leaving Dade City with $40 per ticket. No timeline has been set for installing the cameras.

Tonight's meeting is the last chance for residents to weigh in before the rate and budget become official for the year. The commission has not said whether any further changes to the speed camera ordinance or the Maggard annexation are expected before those items return for additional votes.

For more on this and other local decisions, visit the Dade City Community Website or follow us on Facebook. Share your take on tonight's vote in our Community Forum, and check out more government and politics coverage from around east Pasco County.