The Low-Rate Playbook — And What It Leaves Out.
If you received the city’s weekly update or follow its social media channels, you may have seen a chart showing significant property tax millage rate reductions. The city’s latest On the Rise brochure contains an article on page 20 called The Low-Rate Playbook which includes this chart and claims that the city has been lowering taxes since 2014 and that taxpayers have saved more than $21 million through these millage reductions.
You may also have noticed that your tax bill has risen every year since then. A significant portion (more than 50%) of our property tax payments to go entities other than the city (such as the county, school board, hospital district, etc.). However, eleven years ago, the city’s portion of the total tax bill was approximately 40%; by last year, that number had risen to 47%. By comparison, the county portion of the bill increased from just 18% to 19%, school board portion decreased from 32% to 27%, the hospital district portion decreased from 6% to 4%.
The analysis below focuses solely on the city’s portion of our property tax bills.
The complete millage rate story.
The city is correct that the operating budget millage rate has declined steadily from 6.4 mills in 2014 to 5.7 mills in 2026 (one mill = 0.1% — this is what is applied to the assessed value of your property to calculate the tax you owe). What the city does not mention is that in 2021, a separate debt service millage was added to property tax bills to cover annual payments on the $40 million bond that voters approved in 2018.
When that debt service millage is included, the total millage rate tells a different story. The rate rose from approximately 6.1 mills in 2020 to a peak of roughly 6.6 mills in 2023. The millage rate has declined since then, and it currently sits at approximately 6.2 mills for 2026.
What residents actually paid.
The more direct question is what Oakland Park homeowners have actually paid each year. As an example, the chart below shows the amount of property tax by a typical single-family homeowner in the city. The city’s share of the tax bill increased from 41% in 2014 to 47% in 2025 while the rest of the county and state taxes decreased over the same period.
And for a typical condominium owner, the increase was even more pronounced, going from 49% in 2014 to 58% in 2025.
About that $21 million.
The brochure’s claim that taxpayers saved $21 million since 2014 is calculated by comparing actual tax revenue collected against what would have been collected if the 2014 millage rate had been held constant. It does not account for the debt service millage added in 2021, nor for the increases in non-ad valorem assessments over the same period.
What’s next.
The city commission will discuss the preliminary millage rate for fiscal year 2027 in July, with formal budget hearings in September. As that process unfolds, we encourage residents and business owners to review the complete picture of what they have been paying — not just the operating millage rate in isolation.