OKEECHOBEE — During the July 21 city council meeting, Finance Director Taylor Connell presented some surprising statistics to the council concerning millage rates.
As the time approaches for the council to set the maximum millage rate for the coming fiscal year, Connell and his team set out to discover what similar municipalities were doing. They chose 20 communities with similar populations and community characteristics. They discovered that 14 of those municipalities have adopted higher millage rates, and six have adopted lower rates. Okeechobee’s FY2025/26 millage rate is 5.9602 mills. The average adopted millage rate of the 20 comparable cities is 6.4227, and the median rate is 6.4691. Connell said the comparison illustrated a wide range of tax rates with MacClenny adopting 3.6000 mills, and Live Oak adopting 9.2500 mills.
“Overall, the data indicates that Okeechobee continues to maintain a relatively conservative property tax rate while supporting municipal operations and capital needs. This comparison provides additional evidence that the FY 2026–27 proposed maximum millage rate of 5.9602 is reasonable and competitive when evaluated against similarly situated Florida communities,” explained Connell.
The council will set the maximum millage rate during a special meeting on July 29 at 5 p.m. in the council chambers. The public is welcome to attend. As Mayor Dowling Watford is fond of saying, “Just because we set a maximum millage rate, that does not mean we will use that rate. It just means we can’t go higher.”
Since 2015, the council has reduced the city’s millage rate by 25.4% while the average Florida municipality has lowered its millage rate by only 1%, the study showed.
“The city's millage rate reduction occurred at a pace approximately six times greater than the average municipality in Florida, demonstrating the Council's commitment to reducing the tax rate while maintaining a growing taxable base,” said Connell.
One mill equals $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of taxable property value.
This rate will be advertised in the Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices, which will be mailed to property owners. After the TRIM notices go out, the council can lower the tax rate for the coming fiscal year but cannot raise it.
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In other business, Amy Fipps introduced herself to the city council as the new executive director of the Economic Council of Okeechobee. Fipps was formerly a teacher at Rock Solid Christian Academy.
