Hey—
I wanted to follow up on the news that the City is doubling the Tuscawilla Tax. Many residents asked for details, so I pulled the numbers straight from the City’s own budget and meeting documents — and attached them here so you can see for yourself.
I served on the TLBD years ago. When I saw these numbers, something seemed terribly wrong. The Mayor and City are pushing a false narrative.
Here’s the bottom line:
- Spending this year (FY24/25): $544,719 will be spent out of a $604,005 operating budget. We’re under budget. Where’s the crisis?
- What’s being covered?
- Fountains: $20,536
- Landscaping: $159,467
- Signs/Walls: $500
- Contract Admin: $46,480
- Utilities (Irrigation/Lighting): $74,340
- Streetlights: $243,396
- Fund balance: $57,014 is projected to remain in Fund 160 (TLBD Maintenance) — even after $262,864 in one-time project costs.
In other words: we’re covering maintenance of fountains, landscaping, signs, walls, lighting, streetlights, and some capital projects — and still keeping a surplus from money saved up in past years.
So what are they trying to do now?
- The big jump: Landscaping maintenance goes from $159k this year to $581k next year.
- Not true it hasn’t gone up: Assessments increased from $120 → $128 last year, and now to $256 this year (FY25/26).
- Locked in forever: Notices to homeowners state the new spending level of $1,116,716.38 applies to FY25/26 “and in future fiscal years.”
This is the same pattern we’ve seen with the trash fee increases and water rate hikes. This is not the last time your bills will go up. They passed ordinances to automatically continue to increase rates each year for years to come.
Instead of honest planning, the Mayor and City Hall manufacture crisis, raise fees, and lock higher rates in permanently.
It’s death by a thousand fees.
📎 I’ve attached the budget breakdowns and quarterly reports so you can review the receipts yourself.
👉 Click the button below to SAY NO TO DOUBLING THE TUSCAWILLA TAX. Together, we need to send a clear message: enough is enough.
— Jesse Phillips
Founder, Winter Springs Community Association