By Reggie Connell, Managing Editor
In Summary:
Apopka's first FY2027 budget workshop became less about a proposed 1-mill tax increase and more about how the city's new commission intends to govern. Mayor Nick Nesta floated a tentative 0.75-mill ceiling while aiming to reduce the final increase to one-half mill, shifting the discussion toward balancing infrastructure investments with taxpayer concerns. Along the way, each commissioner offered a distinct vision for accountability, transparency, and the city's financial future.
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Sometimes the most important number in a budget isn't the one a City expects to adopt—it's the one that resets expectations. That may be what happened Wednesday night at the Apopka City Budget Workshop.
Related: Florida’s proposed property tax cuts rely on a population boom that has slowed dramatically.
After a proposed 1-mill property tax increase ignited criticism on local social media before the workshop even began, Mayor Nick Nesta appeared to quickly reframe the conversation. While explaining that Florida law allows the City Commission to lower a proposed millage rate later—but not raise it—Nesta suggested setting the initial rate high enough to preserve flexibility before volunteering his own goal: reducing the increase to one-half mill if staff could find enough savings.
Whether by design or instinct, the move changed the debate.
By the end of the workshop, commissioners were discussing how much the City could responsibly trim while still confronting years of deferred infrastructure projects, slowing development revenue, and growing operational demands.
Wednesday's budget workshop offered the clearest glimpse yet into how Apopka's new City Commission intends to navigate those competing demands. The discussion was less about a proposed millage increase than it was about a broader shift in governing philosophy — one that acknowledges years of deferred projects, slowing development revenue, and difficult financial choices that can no longer be postponed.
No vote was taken, but by the end, the commission signaled support for setting a tentative ceiling of a 0.75-mill increase, giving staff room to continue reducing the proposal before public hearings. Mayor Nick Nesta made clear his personal goal is to lower that figure even further, saying he hopes the final increase can be closer to one-half mill. More revealing than the number itself, however, was the reasoning behind it.
"This is preliminary," Nesta reminded residents at the outset. "We want feedback. This is the point."
He repeatedly emphasized that the budget should not be viewed as a one-year spending plan.
"We're not just doing this year's budget," he said. "We're doing next year's budget and the budget after that."
That theme surfaced throughout the evening.
Finance Director Blanche Sherman outlined a budget built around declining development-related revenue, including falling collections of building permits, plan reviews, and impact fees, while operating costs continue to rise. At the same time, commissioners acknowledged the city still faces major infrastructure obligations, including water and wastewater improvements, road projects, and public safety facilities.
For Nesta, delaying those investments simply shifts the burden forward.
"Anything we push off this year should be foundationally what starts next year," he said. "But it's going to be at a 10%, 15%, 20%, whatever it may be, cost to that project next year."
That long-term perspective appeared to find support across the dais, even as commissioners approached the issue from different directions.
Commissioner Nadia Anderson focused less on the size of a tax increase than on ensuring that every dollar reflects the City's highest priorities, particularly with uncertainty surrounding a proposed statewide property tax amendment that could reduce future local government revenue.
"Even with some of the things that we're deciding to budget for now, we need to think about, is this something that's a top priority?" Anderson said. It's hard for me to even determine if this is where the best and highest use of the dollar should be spent because I don't know what other projects are going on."
Her comments prompted one of the workshop's most significant commitments.
Nesta said department heads have already been directed to begin producing regular updates on capital improvement projects, including timelines, milestones, and progress reports for both commissioners and residents. The goal, he said, is to improve accountability and prevent projects from disappearing into the budget without visible progress.
Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez welcomed that effort but said the updates should go beyond schedules.
"I would also ask that when you give us that list of all the projects ... if you can add also why they're not moving forward," she said. "So that way we have an idea in terms of what to — especially when we are speaking with our constituents — we can give them an answer."
That emphasis on transparency reflected another recurring theme throughout the workshop.
Rather than debating individual line items, commissioners repeatedly returned to the need for better communication about where projects stand, why they have stalled, and when residents should expect to see results.
Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez approached the discussion through the lens of experience. Having served through the pandemic and years of flat or declining millage rates, she argued that the repeated postponement of projects has created today's infrastructure challenges.
"I'd like to see it where we can set it and really massage the projects that we know need to get done," she said. "When we budget something, and we don't get to it, we could have used that fund somewhere else."
Commissioner Sam Ruth offered perhaps the workshop's broadest critique of the city's historical approach to budgeting.
"Because we've been kicking this can for 20 years that I know of," Ruth said, "I think we were somewhat disingenuous because we were trying to keep our millage rate so low. I need to have a lot of reassurance that we're going to start taking ownership of some of these roads."
If there was a common thread connecting the entire commission, it was an acknowledgment that Apopka's financial landscape is changing.
For years, explosive growth generated the permit fees, impact fees, and other development-related revenue that helped support City operations and infrastructure. Staff's preliminary budget now reflects a different reality, one in which those revenues are slowing while demands on services continue to increase.
The public comments echoed that sentiment.
Resident Rod Olsen, who said he has followed the city's budgets for more than a decade, argued that years of delaying infrastructure projects have finally caught up with Apopka.
"We've hit the wall now," Olsen told commissioners. "Anyone who dreams that we're not going to have a millage increase is smoking something they shouldn't be smoking."
Another resident, Leroy Bell, supported raising the millage if necessary but urged commissioners to ensure that all parts of the city benefit from future investments, citing Alonzo Williams Park and drainage improvements in particular.
By the end of the workshop, commissioners had not settled on a final tax rate, nor were they expected to. Under Florida law, the preliminary rate simply establishes the maximum that can later be adopted after public hearings.
But the meeting revealed something perhaps more important than a number.
Two months into their terms, Apopka's new commission appears to share a common diagnosis of the city's financial challenges. Where members differ is not over whether infrastructure needs attention, but how quickly to address it, how much residents should be asked to contribute, and how to ensure every dollar produces visible results.
The millage debate will continue over the coming weeks, but the larger conversation about how Apopka intends to govern in an era of slower growth and greater financial constraints has already begun.
Key Points:
- Mayor Nick Nesta shifted the budget discussion from a proposed 1-mill increase to a goal of reducing any final increase closer to one-half mill.
- Commissioners agreed that years of deferred infrastructure projects can no longer be ignored, even as development-related revenue slows.
- Nadia Anderson, Diane Velazquez, Yesenia Baron, and Sam Ruth each outlined different priorities for accountability, transparency, and long-term planning.
- The commission called for better tracking of capital improvement projects, including public timelines, status reports, and explanations for delays.
- The workshop revealed a commission largely united on the city's financial challenges, but still working through how best to pay for the solutions.
