How Palmetto is run
Who runs Palmetto, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Palmetto's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Palmetto
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- Mayor vehicle allowance: $3,600 a year (FY2027)
- City contribution for deferred compensation in the Mayor and Commission budget: $19,864 (FY2027)
Palmetto city staff
150 full-time-equivalent positions. FY2026-27. Funded positions, not full-time equivalents: 136 full-time, 8 part-time and 6 elected officials. 26 were vacant when the budget was adopted. City of Palmetto · Sep 28, 2026
Florida has no statewide pay database. The budget lists each position and its pay grade but not salaries or grade ranges. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Palmetto in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
The city's own outlook
The FY2027 general fund budget is presented as balanced and uses $482,500 of fund balance, including $300,000 of Building Department reserves for portable buildings. Taxable values rose 2.82%, well below the double-digit growth of the prior five years. City of Palmetto · Sep 28, 2026
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $7.8M (2025-09-30). The city's own target: By resolution, keep unassigned general fund balance of three to six months of budgeted spending. At Sept. 30, 2025 it equaled 4.52 months; amounts above five months may fund capital projects. City of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Property taxes$9.4M · 46%
- Permits, fees and assessments (building permits, electric franchise fee)$2.1M · 11%
- Transfers in from other funds$2.1M · 10%
- Utility taxes (electric, gas, propane)$1.7M · 8%
- Sales taxes$1.3M · 7%
- Other taxes and state revenue sharing$1.1M · 6%
- Charges for services$710,340 · 3%
- Other (loan proceeds, interest, misc., fines, grants)$1.3M · 7%
- From savings (fund balance)$482,500 · 2%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$8M · 39%
- City property tax increment paid to the CRA$3.5M · 17%
- Building department$1.2M · 6%
- Finance$1.1M · 5%
- Public works administration$1.1M · 5%
- Information technology$1.1M · 5%
- Parks and recreation$953,242 · 5%
- Other (mayor and commission, clerk's office, HR, attorney, code enforcement, fleet, events, planning)$3.6M · 17%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a Palmetto homeowner pays, about 30 cents goes to the city. Fire service is a separate district levy. The city's 5.8445 rate for FY2026-27 equals the rolled-back rate and is down from 5.9671.
30¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Palmetto
- Manatee County School BoardRequired local effort, discretionary, capital and voter-approved operating levies6.275 · 33%
- City of Palmetto5.8445 · 30%
- Manatee County (incl. voter-approved children's services and environmental lands)6.0206 · 31%
- North River Fire District0.75 · 4%
- Southwest Florida Water Management District0.1831 · <1%
- Manatee County Mosquito Control District0.1256 · <1%
- West Coast Inland Navigation District0.0394 · <1%
- Total (mills)19.2382
2026 tax year (FY2026-27) rates for a home in the city of Palmetto (Manatee County). Manatee County Property Appraiser · Oct 5, 2026
See what a Palmetto house pays, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Palmetto is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityPalmetto Police DepartmentCity of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
- Water and sewerThe cityCity of Palmetto (enterprise funds)City of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
- Reclaimed water and stormwaterThe cityCity of PalmettoCity of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity of Palmetto (roads and streets)City of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
- ParksThe cityCity of Palmetto (recreation)City of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
- ElectricityPrivate companyFlorida Power & LightCity of Palmetto · Sep 28, 2026
- SchoolsSeparate districtManatee County School BoardCity of Palmetto · Jun 26, 2026
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | Fernandina BeachFL | PalmettoFL | DestinFL | Key BiscayneFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 13,958 | 13,961 | 14,640 | 14,653 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $205,000 | Not confirmed | $255,000 | $252,847 |
| Council member pay | $18,000 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $3,123 | $1,459 | $1,791 | $3,222 |
| Debt per resident | $1,991 | $871 | $3,000 | $864 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $530 | $215 | $0 | $-763 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 20.3 | 10.7 | 8.6 | 9.8 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how). Destin pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Palmetto publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- No: City manager's contract findable onlinePalmetto has no city manager. The elected mayor is chief executive; we found no posted contract for the City Clerk. City of Palmetto
- No: Employee pay publishedThe budget lists each position and pay grade but no salaries or ranges. Florida has no statewide pay database. City of Palmetto · Sep 28, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Unassigned general fund reserves fell $1.2 million in FY2025 to $7.8 million, about 4.5 months of spending. How much more will capital projects draw from them?
- The general fund pays $3,458,264 of city property tax to the CRA in FY2027. How does the commission measure what that money returns?
- The budget funds 150 positions, and 26 were vacant at adoption. How do the vacancies affect police and public works service?
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