Opinion: Parker’s FY2026 Budget Balloons To $15M: Firetruck Funded By Water Reserves Raises Red Flags

PARKER, FL - The City of Parker released its Draft Budget for Fiscal Year 2026 late on (August 22, 2025) Friday afternoon. The first and only budget workshop before the city council approves the budget (on September 4) was Monday, August 25th at 10am, at City Hall, 1001 West Park Street.   The Parker Citizen provides an outline of the budget numbers along with a list of the “notes” listed on the spreadsheet.

Based on the "Draft Budget 25/26" document, the total budget amount for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY2026) is planned to be $14,972,230. To balance this expenditure, the budget also projects TOTAL REVENUES - ALL FUNDS of $13,564,731, supplemented by a $1,407,500 transfer from Utility Reserves specifically for a Firetruck purchase.

HOW DOES FY2026 COMPARE TO LAST YEAR’S BUDGET?

Looking at the "Budget-Final-FY2025.pdf" document, the total expenditures for the 2024/2025 fiscal year, listed under "APPROPRIATIONS - All FUNDS" for "2024/2025", are listed as $6,271,796.35. That makes the city’s proposed FY2026 budget -- $14,972,230--$8.7 million higher than the prior fiscal year — a 138.7% increase in total appropriations. That’s more than double the previous year’s spending!

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE

As this FY2026 budget spreadsheet shows, the FY2025 budget was AMENDED to a total of $8.25 million: See “TOTAL EXPENDITURES - ALL FUNDS" : $8,251,785.81.

TPC TAKE: Parker’s $8.25M “Amended Budget” Was Never Adopted in Public. Under Florida Statute §166.241, any amendment to a city budget — especially one that changes total appropriations — must be formally adopted by the city council. That means: public notice, council discussion of where the extra $2million+ came from, recorded vote, and posting of the adopted amendment.  That was never done.

BACK TO THE FY2026 BUDGET

Here’s a look at the requested expenditures by department for Fiscal Year 2026:

Fund 01 – General Fund

• General Government: $591,529

• Police Department: $1,278,338

• Fire Department: $2,025,518

• Code Enforcement: $174,178

• Trash Department: $296,986

• Street Department: $2,254,966

• Fleet Department: $59,536

• Parks Department: $417,853

Fund 02 – Community Redevelopment Agency

• Community Redevelopment: $256,246

Fund 41 – Utility Fund

• Water Department: $981,906

• Sewer Department: $1,511,808

• Contingency: $100,000

Fund 42 – SRF (State Revolving Fund)

• SRF Water Main Project: $5,000,000

• Debt Service: $23,366

WHAT THE BUDGET SHOWS

The city is prioritizing water infrastructure, with $5 million for a SRF loan earmarked for a major water main replacement.

AD VALOREM TAX: A PROMISE REVISITED

The Ad Valorem Tax revenue—listed at $903,262—is deposited into the General Fund, not directly into the Utility or SRF Fund. That means while infrastructure projects are funded, these tax dollars are supporting a broader range of services.

When the Parker City Council approved the Ad Valorem Tax in early 2023, Mayor Andrew Kelly emphasized that the revenue would be used to address failing infrastructure, especially in the water system. The decision came after reports from the Public Works Director and Florida Rural Water Association highlighted serious issues with the city’s aging water lines.

Yet in FY2026, those ad valorem funds are not directly allocated to water infrastructure. Instead, they support the General Fund, which includes departments like police, fire, administration—and even a new air conditioning unit for the public library.

$1.5M FIRETRUCK FINANCED BY FUNDS FLAGGED FOR WATER FIXES

One eyebrow-raising item in the budget is the planned purchase of a new firetruck, mostly funded by the Water Utility Fund. The City of Parker is planning to pay for the $1,500,000 replacement truck in the Fire Department primarily through a Cash Transfer from Utility Reserves.

Specifically:

• The budget indicates a request of $1,500,000 for "MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT”  for a "Replacement truck for Engine 8" under the Fire Department (Dept 522) for Fiscal Year 2026.

• A "Cash Transfer from Utility Reserves for Fire Truck purchase" totaling $1,407,500 is noted in the summary for Fund 01 - GENERAL FUND and the "TOTAL REVENUES - ALL FUNDS".

This means that $1,407,500 of the $1,500,000 cost is covered by funds transferred from the Water Utility Reserves. The remaining $92,500 (calculated as $1,500,000 - $1,407,500) would be accounted for within the overall revenues and expenditures of the General Fund, though a specific, separate funding source for this $$ difference is not detailed in the provided notes for the firetruck.

Florida Statute 180 governs city utilities, like water systems, and restricts water revenues to be used for just water-related expenses. In addition, Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards say that Florida enterprise funds (like water utilities) must be used only for the operations they support and avoid being used to subsidize unrelated departments (like fire services).

So, if Parker’s water infrastructure is in such urgent need of investment, why is the city draining water utility reserves to buy a firetruck?

SRF FUND A/K/A DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND (SRF) CONSTRUCTION LOAN AGREEMENT

Talked about for years, the SRF Fund (State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Parker have yet to enter into a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) Construction Loan Agreement. $5 million has been set aside in the budget so hopefully that means those funds will be released and the water pipeline along Hwy 98 towards Dupont Bridge will be installed.

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS ROLLING OVER

This budget spreadsheet notes, “PROCEEDS FROM RESERVES Dept 380 - OTHER SOURCES” within the Fund 01 - GENERAL FUND $937,429

The note explicitly states "Infrastructure rollover 2 years" for this amount.

This indicates that the $937,429 – 2 years’ worth of surtax funds has NOT been spent in 2 years as it is intended for infrastructure projects.  According to the budget spreadsheet, a big portion of these rolled-over funds is designated for a paving project in the Street Department (Dept 541) in FY2026.

TPC is hopeful the Public Works Director will review how tax dollars have been spent on the city’s infrastructure projects last year and going forward into FY 2026.

BUDGET NOTES DISCLOSE DETAILS

To get a hint of how the city wants to spend our tax dollars, The Parker Citizen highlights the notes made on the spreadsheet, as follows:

Dept 360 – Revenues

• Parks Contributions: $2,000 ◦ Note: "Chappelle donations in current year"

Dept 330 – Intergovernmental Revenue

• Local Infrastructure Half-Cent Tax: $562,571 ◦ Note: "FL Dept of Rev projection"

Dept 519 – General Government

• Accounting & Auditing: $60,000 ◦ Note: "Annual Audit"

• Library Contract: $41,957 ◦ Note: "Per letter from NW FL Regional Library System dated 5.19.25"

• Bad Debts: $1,000 ◦ Note: "FL Unclaimed Property"

• Travel & Per Diem: $10,000 ◦ Note: "BS&A Conference and Clerk Conference"

• Rental & Leases: $5,000 ◦ Note: "Includes $1,050 for 1 quarter postage machine rental ($1,050 per dept)"

• R&M - Buildings & Grounds: $10,000 ◦ Note: "$10k - bulletproof service window"

• Training: $3,000 ◦ Note: "Registrations for BS&A Conference and Clerk Conference"

Dept 521 – Police Department

• Professional Services – Legal: $5,000 ◦ Note: "Attorney Fees if needed"

• Other Contractual Services: $5,000 ◦ Note: "FirstNet Data and Drug screens/Badges, Copier"

• Travel & Per Diem: $3,500 ◦ Note: "Travel for training"

• Communications: $151,348 ◦ Note: "Dispatch, Emergency radio, Verizon and internet"

• Rental & Leases: $2,400 ◦ Note: "Copier"

• Operating Supplies: $4,000 ◦ Note: (No specific note for FY26 in the source, but description is listed)

• Training: $8,000 ◦ Note: "Traffic/Homicide training for 2, Chief Training"

• Machinery & Equipment: $14,344 ◦ Note: "Radars (3) @ $2,448 each + 2 laptops @ $3,000 each"

• Capital Outlay – Leases: $70,000 ◦ Note: (No specific note provided for FY26 in the source, but $70,000 is requested)

Dept 522 – Fire Department

• Operating Supplies: $5,000 ◦ Note: "Various medical supplies needed"

• Machinery & Equipment: $1,500,000 ◦ Note: "Replacement truck for Engine 8"

Dept 523 – Code Enforcement

• Other Contractual Services: $12,000 ◦ Note: "Estimate 2 houses will be demolished"

• Rental & Leases: $1,050 ◦ Note: (No specific note provided for FY26 in the source, but $1,050 is requested)

Dept 572 – Parks Department

• Machinery & Equipment: $100,000 ◦ Note: "Dump body truck"

• "$25k to replace Library AC"

The nearly $15 million budget/spending plan raises important questions about transparency, priorities, and long-term infrastructure commitments. With utility reserves tapped fora  $1.5 million+ firetruck, surtax funds left unused for two years, and Ad Valorem tax dollars redirected to general operations, The Parker Citizen is hopeful that department heads will fill in the blanks and provide clarity on key line items, and that city officials will discuss how this budget aligns with their broader vision for Parker’s future. Monday’s meeting is the only chance for the public to weigh in before final decisions are made.

SOURCES:

*The tiny numbers on the FY2026 budget spreadsheet are practically microscopic. That is how the city published the doc.

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