Hollywood City Commission Special Meeting: FY 2026 Budget Adoption - September 25, 2025
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Hollywood City Commission Special Meeting: FY 2026 Budget Adoption - September 25, 2025
This was the second public budget hearing for Fiscal Year 2026. The City Commission unanimously adopted the millage rate, the operating and capital budgets, the five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), authorized positions, and concurred with the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) budget. City staff highlighted a structurally balanced budget with a reduced millage rate, investments in public safety, infrastructure, and technology, and the lowest total millage since FY 2020.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Carlene Duarte: Thanked the budget office for helping her understand the budget and requested a workshop for citizens on how to read the budget. Expressed concern that the budget lacked a line item for ongoing infrastructure maintenance, noting that dredging of canals at Echo had not occurred in 41 years. Criticized the new phone system for poor customer service and requested faster responses to public record requests.
- Carline Duarte (Resident): Spoke in support of the Community Enhancement Collaboration (CEC) program feeding seniors, stating her disability and social security check are insufficient to meet her needs. Requested that the food distribution program's temporary location at Washington Park become permanent, citing better conditions (indoor seating, restroom access) compared to the current Wiley Street location where seniors wait in heat and rain without facilities.
- Jeff Olivario (President, Hollywood LGBTQ Council / Co-chair, My Hollywood Pride): Thanked the Commission for support that helped achieve a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Index, raise the Progress Pride Flag (first in Florida), and establish Hollywood as the home of the first official Pride anywhere in the world. Noted that nearly 75% of the city sponsorship was consumed by police detail costs, leaving little for programming. Requested additional in-kind support (e.g., public service officers) so sponsorship funds could directly support the event experience.
Discussion Items
- City Manager's Remarks: George R. Keller, Jr., the City Manager, introduced the budget, emphasizing a decrease in the operating millage rate for the second consecutive year and the first time in 14–15 years that the city's total millage is under 8 mills. He noted the budget is structurally balanced for the third year in a row. He mentioned ongoing efforts to procure a comprehensive automated asset property management system and highlighted a new full-time compliance position to test and improve processes. He stated the city is on the precipice of becoming a billion-dollar annual operating budget city.
- Assistant City Manager's Presentation: Adam Reishbach presented the FY 2026 budget details. The total of all city funds is $949 million (an 11.9% increase from FY 2025). The general fund is $416 million (44% of the citywide budget). The budget includes 40 new authorized positions across departments, including 21 SAFER firefighters absorbed, CRA employees absorbed, and positions in public utilities, public works, fire rescue, police, development services, IT, code compliance, parking, and communications. He categorized new initiatives into three areas: enhancing public safety, strengthening city services, and preparing for the future. The Capital Improvement Plan totals $95 million, with the largest share in water/sewer and stormwater funds.
- Commissioner Questions and Discussion:
- Commissioner Shuham requested an explanation for the growth in positions and budget, addressing a resident's concern about "bloat." The City Manager responded that the city cannot deficit spend and that the budget is structurally balanced. He noted that the 1,533 full-time equivalents is approximately the number of employees the city had 15 years ago, and that many new positions are absorbing SAFER grant firefighters and CRA employees. Commissioner Shuham expressed comfort with the budget.
- Vice Mayor Quintana emphasized the need to help residents understand the value of their tax dollars, especially given ongoing property tax discussions in Tallahassee.
- Commissioner Biederman stressed the importance of customer service, urging management to ensure phones are answered, emails and voicemails returned, and that complaints about unresponsiveness are addressed. He noted the city is the best staffed and funded in its 100-year history.
- Commissioner Hernandez (participating virtually) supported the new positions, noting they are vetted through a rigorous process.
- Commissioner Callari thanked staff, acknowledged the city is back to full capacity with safeguards (like the 17% reserve), and requested a future discussion on how technology will benefit residents, while emphasizing the importance of customer service as the "numero uno issue."
Key Outcomes
- R-2025-334 – Millage Rate Resolution: Adopted unanimously. The proposed operating millage rate is 7.4293 mills (a reduction of 0.0186 mills from FY 2025), estimated to generate $193,353,802 in general fund net revenues. The total millage (including debt service) is 7.9606 mills (a reduction of 0.0526 mills from FY 2025), the lowest since FY 2020.
- R-2025-335 – Operating Budget Resolution: Adopted unanimously. Appropriates $949 million for all city funds for FY 2026, which begins October 1, 2025.
- R-2025-336 – Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan (FY 2026-2030): Adopted unanimously. Totals $95 million for FY 2026, with significant investments in water/sewer and stormwater infrastructure.
- R-2025-337 – Authorized Positions Resolution: Adopted unanimously. Establishes 40 new authorized positions across various departments.
- P-2025-083 – CRA Budget Concurrence: Adopted unanimously. The Commission concurred with the separate adoption of the Community Redevelopment Agency budgets by the CRA Board.
- Recognition of Jonathan Antista: The City Manager recognized Director of Budget and Performance Management Jonathan Antista, who is leaving after four years of service. Antista thanked the Commission, staff, and his team (Nisha Bajeri, Lizette Dominguez, Beatrice Sandoval, Bobby Aina, Anjanese Sukai, and Enovilino Ocampo) for their work on the FY 2026 budget.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you very much. Please find your seat. Welcome everyone. Welcome to City Hall here in the city of Hollywood. Today is September twenty-fifth, two thousand twenty-five. It is just after six PM. Commissioner Gruber. Commissioner Biederman. Commissioner Shoeham. Commissioner Hernandez. Commissioner Hernandez. Here. Mayor Levy. Here. All right. Let's show that Commissioner Hernandez is participating virtually. I'll accept the motion and a second. Motion for Commissioner Callary, second for Commissioner Bieterman to approve Commissioner Hernandez's virtual participation. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the item carries unanimously. All right, City Manager, here we are for the second uh public budget hearing for the members of the public who are here. Uh we had our first public budget hearing last week. Uh this is of course our second one. Uh the city manager had an opportunity and staff to uh present uh the proposed budget. Uh City Commission had some discussion and feedback. And I'll now turn it over to the city manager for his remarks. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, uh Mayor, Vice Mayor Commissioners, and and to all the members of the public and staff listening in attendance. Uh thank you for that. Thank you for um a very efficient uh first budget hearing. We appreciate that. We were listening uh to some of the uh actually we were listening to all the comments. Um I can reflect on a couple things and then Adam will go into details with the presentation again, and then of course we'll be available for discussion question and answers. But just quickly just to say, very happy again to say for the second year in a row, recommending uh a decrease in the overall um the operating rate and the overall rate, and for the first time, including the debt service coming down, uh brings the city's total under eight mills for first time in 14, 15 years or so, which we're very happy about. Um also structurally balanced again, I think for the third year in a row, and if not more. Um we we heard and we we took back is uh we are in the process right now of identifying and procuring a comprehensive automated asset property management system. Okay. And uh absolutely right, it's uh long overdue. One that we can we can identify all of the assets in the city, whether they be equipment, infrastructure, property, uh real property improvements there too, whatever it may be in terms of not only managing those properties on the maintenance side, in terms of risk management, in terms of assurance, in terms of losses, in terms of uh damage in terms of emergencies and reimbursement, you name it, so that we can um obviously, and we have a significant inventory of of resources that we can include that in. And as we get some more details on that, we're we're visiting with one of the uh the local cities um in South Florida that's using one system, and as soon as we can pin that down and get some more details, we'll get back with you on that so that we can talk about that um as one of the issues for the future that we that will allow us to do better. Um speaking of the future, and that's one of the themes of the budget, is that um we've we're very fortunate, obviously, when we look back over the city's recent history and and the last several years to be in this posture right now because we we have so much going on in terms of uh the capital improvement program, irrespective of the source of it, uh, that's already gone in the ground that's about to go in the ground and coming out of the ground, that after a couple more years, once that uh large cycle is finished, um, the infrastructure and the foundation of this city will have caught up from decades of neglect in some cases to uh a much higher level and one that positions the city for um a new generation or two to come, and it's a great way to celebrate our hundredth anniversary. I apologize if my voice goes out on me at some point here because I'm in the later stages of recovering from whatever's been going around. Uh but hopefully it will hold up for the evening. Um we're fortunate to be able to to see a whole different future now and for the second century for the city. Um the likewise with the private investment in the marketplace to to more than double the tax base in the last decade. Um quite an accomplishment for everybody here, so thank you for all that support on the economic development front and all the initiatives. Um definitely even better than some of us had hoped for. So is there much more to do?
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