Longwood budget planning begins amid state property-tax debate

Longwood’s budget workshop landed as Florida lawmakers weighed property-tax changes that could eventually squeeze police coverage, road repairs and park upkeep in the city. The discussion comes at a time when Longwood, a small Seminole County municipality, has to plan its next spending cycle with far less certainty about one of local government’s core revenue sources.

The Longwood City Commission held its budget workshop on Wednesday, April 8, at 1 p.m. at City Hall, and the city’s calendar shows a regular commission meeting set for Monday, April 20, at 6 p.m. Florida law requires municipalities to hold two public hearings on proposed annual budgets, so the next few steps will help shape how Longwood balances services residents rely on every day with a changing tax outlook.

That pressure is sharpened by the state debate now unfolding in Tallahassee. The Florida House proposal, HJR 203, would gradually increase the homestead exemption from non-school ad valorem taxes by $100,000 each year for 10 years starting in 2027, and all homestead property would be exempt from non-school ad valorem taxes by 2037. The Florida Senate’s version also seeks to make homestead property exempt from all ad valorem taxation other than school district levies beginning in a specified year, while limiting reductions in funding for law enforcement, firefighters and other first responders. Senate President Ben Albritton has said the Senate is committed to giving property-tax relief while protecting core local government services.

For Longwood, that debate is not abstract. The city’s most recently adopted FY 2025-26 budget totaled $74,171,379, including $25.43 million in the general fund, with a final millage rate of 5.5 mills per $1,000. Longwood’s budget documents are organized into a Budget Summary, General Fund, Public Utilities Fund, Other Funds and Capital Improvement Program, a structure that shows how closely day-to-day services, utility operations and long-term projects are tied together.

If state property-tax changes advance, city leaders may have to decide what gets delayed, what gets trimmed and what could move into fees instead. The most likely pressure points are the ones residents notice fastest: police staffing, road maintenance, building upkeep, code enforcement, recreation programming and parks. Seminole County’s own experience underscores the stakes; county officials were reported last year to be facing a $35 million deficit in the 2025-26 budget and considering a property-tax increase for the first time in 16 years. Longwood’s budget planning now sits inside that same fiscal squeeze, where the next decision on taxes could shape the next year of services.