Wildwood’s expensive wastewater treatment improvements cast the biggest shadow over the city’s proposed 2024-25 budget.
Commissioners will get their first glimpse of the proposed budget Monday at a workshop meeting. Final approval is expected in late September after two public hearings and the budget goes into effect on Oct. 1.
Upgrading the current treatment plant and building a new one next to it are expected to handle 5.5 million gallons of wastewater daily.
Wildwood’s population has doubled over four years to more than 30,000 due to home construction in the Villages of Southern Oaks and apartment projects.
The city expects to spend $63.8 million on construction and engineering next year for the new plant. The total cost is $145.9 million.
Revenue bonds will finance $90 million and the rest will come from loan proceeds, grants and fund transfers.
Wildwood residents again face an annual 20 percent hike in sewage fees, which continues for two more years.
Along with a 5.3 percent water rate hike and growth projections, the city expects to collect $26 million in utility revenue, up 30 percent from this year.
The budget proposes a property tax rate of $2.83 per $1,000 assessed valuation, the same rate as this year and 6.75 percent higher than the rolled-back rate. The rolled-back rate is the amount needed to collect the same revenue as the prior year excluding new construction.
The city is estimated to collect $18.5 million in property taxes next year, up from $16.4 million.
Wildwood’s total taxable property value is expected to rise to about $7 billion, up nearly $1 billion from this year.
Budgeted personnel additions include six police officers to cover a new zone in the southern area, a code compliance specialist and four parks and recreation employees. The city also will add two water department and four wastewater department jobs.
Another $23.6 million in capital projects, including $13 million in Millennium Park improvements, drainage upgrades and downtown master plan implementation, also are budgeted.
Commissioners also will hear a report Monday from Stantec on the city’s utility fund. The consulting firm projects a 39 percent increase in utility customer growth by 2028 and an 18 percent operating cost hike due to growth and inflation
