Oakland Park lowers its millage rate
From David Volz
The Oakland Park millage rate is going down again, following the adoption of the rates for next fiscal year at the September 21st Commission Meeting. The operating millage rate for fiscal year (FY) 2023 was decreased to 5.8550 from 5.8890 mills. This is the lowest millage rate for Oakland Park in over a decade and the eighth time the City has lowered the rate in the past nine years. Since FY 2014, the City has reduced the millage rate by 0.5445 mills, saving taxpayers over $10 million. The budget for FY23 includes more than $30 million for Capital Improvement Projects and funding for more than 150 initiatives to support public safety, infrastructure improvements, financial stability, and parks and leisure activities.
Oakland Park received some recognition. The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) presented Oakland Park with a Local Government Excellence Award for its COVID-19 vaccination site on September 20, 2022. City Manager David Hebert accepted the award on behalf of the City at the ICMA annual conference. The ICMA, with 12,000 members, is the world’s leading association of professional city and county managers and other employees who serve local governments. Each year, ICMA gives the Local Government Excellence Award to recognize programs that demonstrate innovation and success in a community’s safety, health, and wellness. The Oakland Park COVID-19 vaccination site opened in January 2021 to serve vulnerable seniors who faced challenges scheduling and traveling to vaccine appointments. The City partnered with the Department of Health to secure a vaccine supply and worked with local organizations to identify and contact vulnerable seniors to schedule appointments. Oakland Park operated the vaccine distribution site and transported seniors to their appointments when needed. As the first City-run vaccination site in Broward County, Oakland Park was able to provide more than 9,500 vaccines to seniors from ten south Florida cities and served as a model for other communities to operate additional distribution sites
