- Marco Island City Council voted 4-3 to maintain the 2025 millage rate, leading to millions in budget cuts.
- The decision rejects staff recommendations for a slightly higher rate to address rising costs and infrastructure needs.
- Council members debated using reserve funds, raising concerns about hurricane preparedness.
Marco Island City Council spent three hours on Monday debating property taxes and budget cuts, finally deciding by a 4-3 vote to pursue a budget with the same millage rate as 2025, which means millions of dollars in cuts to the initial proposed budget.
City councilors directed staff to create a budget that will fit the revenue that will be generated by a 1.24 mill property tax rate, considered millage neutral. It was not what staff recommended.
After three weeks and multiple reconfiguring of the proposed budget following discovery of an accounting error, staff recommended a 1.29 mill rate, slightly higher than 2025 and much lower than the initial proposed 1.6680…