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According to City Manager David Deitch, the City of Niceville’s government has turned a $7 Million deficit into a $20,000 one. The City will also transfer roughly $2.8 million in water and sewer revenues to cover a large portion of the deficit. In fiscal year 2024, the City had to use $2.42 Million in reserves and another $1.25 Million in Water and Sewer funds to fill the gap between revenues and expenses.
The city council received the information favorably and looks likely to approve the budget in their September 10 meeting.
In previous years, the City had bled reserves.
In total, the City of Niceville’s budget for fiscal year 2025 weighs in at $56 Million, which is about $5 Million less than 2024’s budget and $8.25 Million less than 2023’s budget.
In his 14th month in office and second budget cycle, Deitch told the city council at Wednesday’s budget hearing that the City had made the turnaround thanks to hardworking city staff. ” This team beside me and behind me did a phenomenal job,” Deitch said to the council.
According to Deitch, the budget rests on two assumptions: changing an insurance plan for city assets and implementing a less expensive water meter refurbishment agreement with Johnson Controls, which were discussed at length at the last council meeting.
The cuts mean that the City will keep the tax rate where it sits currently, at 4.0 Mills – or about $1,580.18 in city taxes for the average home in Niceville, according to the Okaloosa County Property Appraiser’s valuations of homes here.
A three percent cost of living adjustment has been included for all city employees.
In addition, the City will put money aside to create parking, fences, and bathrooms at the renovated Meigs Special Needs Park. Okaloosa County has stepped up to fund the lion’s share of that project.
The budget will also include a total rehabilitation of two fields at Twin Oaks Park, a new reused water line to expand access to that resource, and the replacement of an eight-inch sewer line up Cedar Avenue to prepare for the new dorms on Northwest Florida State College’s campus.
But, the balanced budget means that there will be items on the City’s wishlist that won’t get done this year. “There’s just not enough money to go around for all the projects we want to do,” Deitch told the council.
The City will put the design and planning of a new city administrative complex on hold for the time being. “When we started this [budget] process, we had $3 Million [set aside] because that was the projected cost for the design and engineering. We just don’t have the money for that right now,” Deitch said. It will also put the kibosh on an expansion of the Turkey Creek recreation area south of John Sims Parkway.
Deitch noted that he hopes to have the design and engineering of the new municipal complex in the 2026 fiscal year budget, with some assistance from grants and other forms of aid. “Phil Schultz, our grants manager, is actively working a number of different grants for the design and engineering, both of a Deer Moss Creek fire station, but also for this complex. And again, my recommendation to the council is that we get rid of this complex in the police department and build one two-story building. But again, we’re seeking out DOD, federal, and state grants this year for the design and engineering of that building,” Deitch said.
Money from the Tourism Development Tax, which voters recently expanded to Niceville, will pair with money from the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to cover the costs of a new pier in the Downtown/Old Niceville district on the eastern side of Boggy Bayou in the City limits.
RELATED: Tourism Tax Money Could Make Aquatic Center A Reality
The City expects the $3.3 Million project to be completed by the end of the 2025 calendar year.
The City’s leadership made note of these accomplishments in 2024:
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