LARGO — The Largo City Commission trimmed the city’s property tax rate Sept. 15, but most property owners will still pay more next year because rising property values will outpace the cut.
Commissioners voted 6-1 to set the rate at 5.49 mills for fiscal 2027, down from 5.52 mills this year, and approved a $325 million budget by the same margin. Commissioner Michael Smith, who wanted to keep the rate steady at 5.52, cast the dissenting vote both times. A mill equals $1 in tax for every $1,000 of taxable property value.
Because values have climbed, the new rate is 1.91% higher than the rollback rate of 5.3872 mills, the rate that would bring in the same property tax revenue as last year. Performance and Budget Manager Jared Campbell said the average homesteaded household will pay about $1.75 more a month, or $21.02 a year.
The votes came as cities across Pinellas County brace for Amendment 3, the property tax measure on the Nov. 3 ballot. And as with nearly every discussion of taxes and finances in Largo over the past six months, the budget’s final readings, usually a formality, drew debate.
Campbell reminded commissioners that they had approved the tentative rate on first reading Sept. 3. He said the budget projects a fund balance of 17% at the end of fiscal 2027, below the commission’s 20% goal, and that the rate required a supermajority, at least five of the seven commissioners, to pass.
During public comment, Dwayne Wilson, who said he has a background in accounting and auditing, questioned why the city had run surpluses of $8 million to $28 million a year over the past six fiscal years.
“It befuddles me how we can sit here and ask for a millage increase,” Wilson said. “If property values increase significantly like they are, we’re asking for an increase even if (the rate) stays the same.”
When Smith asked for an explanation, City Manager John Curp said the commission’s policy calls for a fund balance of at least 10%, growing toward a goal of 20%.
“This fund balance will be just over 17%, so we’re below the 20% goal and trending down,” Curp said. “That’s the reason the fund balance is where it is. Those funds are kept for emergencies.”
“Like hurricanes,” Smith said.
Curp added that an outside firm audits the city’s budget every year. “So, our finances are reviewed annually,” he said.
Smith said he would not voting for the rate at 5.49 mills.
“I felt it should be where it was originally at,” he said. “So, I will be voting against it.”
Mayor Woody Brown said a fund balance can look larger than it is. When the general fund shows a $17.9 million balance, he said, some of that money is often encumbered, carried over from the previous budget to pay for projects already underway.
“It’s not in that upcoming budget,” Brown said. “So, I think that’s an important distinction.”
Brown said the city’s reserves proved their worth after hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
“Some cities didn’t have a deep enough fund balance and had to borrow money simply to pick up debris,” he said. “Thankfully, we didn’t have to do that here.”
Storm cleanup can cost the city millions of dollars, Brown said, and federal reimbursement is never guaranteed.
“Some of that money comes back to us from FEMA in the future,” he said. “But not always, and not all of it.”
Commissioner Curtis Holmes directed residents’ frustration toward Pinellas County Property Appraiser Mike Twitty, whose office sets taxable values. State law requires appraisers to assess property at market value, though annual assessment increases on homesteaded properties are capped at 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
“Unless you cut your millage, that’s going to be a substantial tax increase,” Holmes said. “Well, we are cutting the millage. Not as much as Mr. Twitty is raising the taxable value of most of the properties. But we’re working on it. You can’t skin it down to nothing. You have to leave some wiggle room in there. And if you don’t like it, tell Mr. Twitty to quit being so (darn) greedy.”