{"id":359993,"date":"2026-08-01T14:08:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/359993\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:08:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:08:37","slug":"apopkas-leaders-plan-3rd-attempt-to-break-impasse-over-tax-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/359993\/","title":{"rendered":"Apopka’s leaders plan 3rd attempt to break impasse over tax rate"},"content":{"rendered":"

An ongoing debate among Apopka\u2019s leaders about hiking tax rates<\/a> is now focusing in part on a city spending plan with millions for new positions \u2014 including a communications director paid more than the new mayor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At their first meeting to set the preliminary millage rate\u00a0on July 15, commissioners unanimously approved hiring Steven \u201cTrooper Steve\u201d Montiero as public information director, a role Mayor Nick Nesta has said is critical to providing the public with accurate and consistent information on city issues.<\/p>\n

Montiero will get a base salary of $180,000 annually \u2014 far above the $133,350 paid to Nesta, who took the gavel April 28.<\/p>\n

Montiero\u2019s resume<\/a> states that he served since 2010 with the Florida Highway Patrol as a master state trooper, public information officer and reserve trooper. Since 2017 he\u2019s also been a traffic safety expert for CBS WKMG News 6 in Orlando.<\/p>\n

Montiero\u2019s starting salary will be more than Orange County \u2014 with a population more than 20 times that of Apopka \u2014 pays its longtime communications director Jeff Williamson, who earns about $166,000 annually and has been in the job since 2019.<\/p>\n

The communications director for Kissimmee, Alibeth Suarez, is paid about $115,000 a year. She\u2019s held the role since 2024 in the city of nearly 86,000, about 20,000 more than Apopka.<\/p>\n

At the second millage meeting\u00a0on Monday, Apopka resident Matthew Hutchinson questioned Montiero\u2019s salary during public comment. \u201cI love Trooper Steve,\u201d Hutchinson said. \u201cBut $180,000?\u201d<\/p>\n

Montiero declined comment on his hiring as he is still employed by News 6 and doesn\u2019t start in Apopka until Aug. 10.<\/p>\n

\"ApopkaApopka City Commissioner Nadia Anderson has opposed efforts by Mayor Nick Nesta to get the City Commission to approve an increased preliminary property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year starting Oct. 1. (Provided photos)<\/p>\n

Commissioner Nadia Anderson has held up the required unanimous approval of the rate\u00a0increase, citing her concerns over the level of the proposed hike.\u00a0She also said she had concerns over both the timing and need for the new public information director position, as well as the creation of a new chief of staff in the mayor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Preliminary budget documents include about $8.54 million slotted for new positions and about $2.98 million saved from position reductions.<\/p>\n

Nesta defended the staffing budget as a matter of catching up on the city\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

For too long, he said, positions were left vacant with their responsibilities shifted to existing employees. One such example is Radley Williams, hired as Parks and Recreation director in 2020 but serving as interim city administrator since April 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a tipping point to where you can hire more people and actually save money versus having overtime,\u201d Nesta said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re working to find that tipping point.\u201d<\/p>\n

With two months left in the current fiscal year, Nesta said overtime pay totals about $3.4 million. Commissioner Yesenia Baron said her calculations show the city has paid a total of about $12.7 million in overtime in the last three years.<\/p>\n

Vice Mayor Diane Velazquez added that there are too many projects left unfinished due to staffing levels. \u201cWhen something happens we take our staff away from whatever they were doing and we put them on the next project and then this project never gets done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Finance Director Blanche Sherman has declined to provide additional details on spending for new positions.<\/p>\n

Repeated attempts to get salary information for the chief of staff position and the employment agreement for Montiero from Human Resources Director Joseph Patton were also unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Commissioners have to approve a millage rate by Friday to meet the state\u2019s Truth in Millage Act deadline. The mayor and commissioners will meet for a third time Thursday to try to agree on a proposed millage rate, after hitting a roadblock in the first and second meetings.<\/p>\n

City staff have recommended a hike of .75 mills in the meetings and Anderson has adamantly opposed it \u2014 preventing the unanimous vote needed to adopt it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 100% still do not support, and will not support, a .75-millage rate increase,\u201d Anderson said Monday. \u201cI think I was very clear on my stand on that last time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A .75-mill increase would raise the rate from 4.4376 mills to 5.1876 mills,<\/a> with each mill equaling $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property\u2019s assessed value.<\/p>\n

Nesta has said his goal is a .50 increase, but he stressed that adopting the higher .75 rate now gives staff more time to finalize the budget. Under state law, commissioners can lower a preliminarily approved rate but face challenges raising it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal for this is to then bring it back to our staff members and really start to drill down and remove what we can remove,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Commissioners will then set the actual rate and adopt the budget in September.<\/p>\n

In an email from Nesta received Wednesday night, he said that since assuming office his administration has taken a detailed look at the current year\u2019s budget and the challenges that carried into this fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the realities we inherited was a budget that relied on approximately $7 million in reserve funds while also projecting revenues that are now expected to fall short by several million dollars,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are significant issues that must be addressed honestly and responsibly if we want to put Apopka on a sustainable financial path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nesta said<\/a> he\u2019s also focused on\u00a0establishing a clearly defined executive leadership structure that creates accountability, improves communication between departments, and ensures residents receive the level of service they expect.<\/p>\n

Reducing the millage rate without identifying sustainable revenue or corresponding reductions in services may require difficult decisions affecting areas such as parks, public safety, infrastructure and other services residents value, he said.<\/p>\n

A .75-mill increase would boost tax revenue by about $6.6 million, or almost 32%, while a .50-mill increase would garner an additional $4.4 million.<\/p>\n

With a .50-mill increase a property owner would pay about $493 for every $100,000 of assessed value \u2014 about $50 more than the current rate. That could mean property tax bills going up about $200 for a house assessed at $400,000. A .75-mill increase would increase the tax bill on that house about $300.<\/p>\n

Anderson has said she wants to see how the city will meet Nesta\u2019s goal of limiting an increase to .50 mills before she\u2019ll support the higher cap. She also reminded commissioners of the looming statew<\/a>ide vote<\/a> asking residents whether they want to slash property taxes.<\/p>\n

During public comment Monday, residents shared mixed views on the rate hike and new positions.<\/p>\n

Rod Olsen told commissioners he doesn\u2019t favor an increase, but also noted the city doesn\u2019t have the infrastructure to support its growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have children walking to school in the ditches because the sidewalks aren\u2019t there,\u201d Olsen said.<\/p>\n

Leroy Bell said he understands the need for an increase, but questioned some spending: \u201cWe don\u2019t need to put another burden on the community with all these new positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But retiree Jim Grumber told commissioners that although he doesn\u2019t favor a tax increase, he sees it as paying for city services.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow quick do I want that fire department to be at my house if I have a fire? How quick do I want my police there when I get a break-in?\u201d he asked them rhetorically.<\/p>\n

This story has been updated with comments received late Wednesday from Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An ongoing debate among Apopka\u2019s leaders about hiking tax rates is now focusing in part on a city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[10514,558,28,29,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,99,480,109],"class_list":["post-359993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-apopka","tag-business","tag-florida","tag-florida-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-politics","tag-real-estate","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}