St. Augustine presents $114 million FY2027 budget emphasizing reserves, wages and capital projects

Melissa Burns, St. Augustine finance director, opened the special workshop with an overview of the proposed FY2027 budget, which she described as balanced and totaling $113,973,720.

"The proposed 2027 budget is balanced and totals $113,973,720," Burns said, laying out how the number includes the general, debt‑service and proprietary funds but excludes the city’s community redevelopment agency component unit. Burns told commissioners the general fund is developed on a 7.5‑mill property tax rate — equal to $7.50 per $1,000 of taxable value — and noted the city preserved its millage rate that has been in place since 2009.

The budget presentation highlighted several priorities: a proposed 3% general wage increase for pay grades 19 and below and 2% for higher grades, plus a 2% merit pool; a proposed increase to the fire assessment fee; $100,000 in annual funding for land conservation; $950,000 for paving; and one new code‑enforcement officer to be covered by short‑term rental fees. Burns also said the city plans to hold four general‑fund positions vacant in FY27 to save roughly $500,000.

Meredith Breidenstein, assistant city manager, explained the book’s larger headline total is partly a presentation artifact of new budgeting software that reports transfers in and transfers out without netting them as was previously done. "When we get into the next few pages and the way we will do this in the future is we don't net that out... all of a sudden, the budget looks like it's jumped to 113,000,000," she said.

Why it matters: the package combines ongoing service costs with one‑time capital moves (restrooms at the Casa, marina improvements, the Middleton House design) and sets aside a four‑month general fund reserve target (about $16.5 million) intended to help the city respond to storms and other shocks. The commission spent the workshop probing fund details, interfund loans, and grant reimbursements before offering consensus on several borrowing options to advance major projects.