Wildwood commissioners Monday night gave tentative approval to both a $274.2-million budget for 2024-25 and a property tax rate of $2.83 per $1,000 assessed valuation.
The also voted to boost water and wastewater rates.
Final approval of the budget and tax rate are expected at the commission’s Sept. 23 meeting. The budget goes into effect Oct. 1.
Viewed as a tax increase, the property tax rate is the same as this year, but 6.75 percent above the rolled-back rate of $2.65 per $1,000 assessed valuation. The rolled-back rate is the amount need to collect the same revenue as the prior year except for new construction.
The city expects to collect $18.5 million in property taxes next year, up from $16.4 million.
Spending will rise 23.8 percent over this year’s budget, largely due to construction of a $146-million wastewater treatment plant.
The budget calls for spending $63.8 million next year on construction and engineering for the new plant. Much of the total cost will be covered by $90 million in revenue bonds.
Commissioners voted to hike water rates by 5.3 percent, based on the consumer price index, and wastewater rates by 20 percent to help pay for the new treatment plant.
Wildwood’s growth required expansion of wastewater treatment capacity. When the work it complete, the two plants will be able to process 5.5 million gallons daily.
The city’s population has doubled since 2020 to more than 30,000 due to home construction in the Villages of Southern Oaks, apartment projects and new businesses.
Besides the treatment plant, Wildwood has budgeted another $23.6 million in capital projects, including $13 million to improve Millennium Park as well as drainage improvements and downtown master plan implementation.
More than a dozen employees will be added including six police officers to cover a new zone in the southern area.
