How Winter Springs is run
Who runs Winter Springs, 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 Winter Springs's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Who runs Winter Springs
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day. The council sets policy, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- 20 weeks' salary as severance if fired without cause
- City pays 15% of salary into a 401(a) retirement plan, matches up to 5% more, and pays the IRS maximum into a 457 plan
- City-provided full-size car for his exclusive use, plus $125 a month toward his cell phone
- Fully paid health, dental and vision coverage for himself and his family
- City-paid term life insurance of twice his salary, up to $500,000
- Must live in the city or within 10 miles of it
- Commission travel budget: $27,450 (FY2027)
- Commission phone budget: $5,760 (FY2027)
Winter Springs city staff
200 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police officers 61, Parks and recreation 24, Water and sewer 23, Police civilian staff 10. FY2026-27. City of Winter Springs · Sep 23, 2026
Florida has no statewide pay database. The budget shows wage totals for each division, but we found no city-published list of pay by position. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Winter Springs 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.
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $9M (2025-09-30). The city's own target: Keep a minimum fund balance of 20% of general fund operating spending (Resolution 2002-36). A supermajority may dip below it if the balance is restored in the next year's budget. The budget also tests against a 25% target, $6.58 million for FY2027. City of Winter Springs · Feb 27, 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$10M · 37%
- Utility taxes (electric, water, gas)$4.8M · 18%
- Franchise fees (mostly Duke Energy)$2.9M · 11%
- State half-cent sales tax$2.7M · 10%
- State revenue sharing$1.8M · 7%
- Communications services tax$1.6M · 6%
- Transfer from the water and sewer fund$845,178 · 3%
- Other (fees, rentals, interest, fines, permits)$1.7M · 6%
- From savings (fund balance)$676,084 · 3%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$11.1M · 41%
- Information and general services (IT, HR, facilities, events)$4.9M · 18%
- Parks and recreation$3.3M · 12%
- Community development$2.5M · 9%
- Finance$1.9M · 7%
- Public works$1.9M · 7%
- Commission, city manager and clerk$913,760 · 3%
- General government (citywide costs and transfers)$475,896 · 2%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar a Winter Springs homeowner pays, about 16 cents goes to the city. Fire service is paid through a separate Seminole County fire levy. For FY2026-27 the city lowered its rate to 2.5160 mills, the rolled-back rate.
16¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Winter Springs
- Seminole County5.3751 · 33%
- Seminole County Public SchoolsState-required 3.0010 plus local 2.24805.249 · 32%
- Seminole County fire district (MSTU)2.7649 · 17%
- City of Winter Springs2.62 · 16%
- St. Johns River Water Management District0.1793 · 1%
- Total (mills)16.1883
2025 tax year (FY2025-26) rates for a home in the city of Winter Springs (Seminole County). Seminole County Property Appraiser
See what a Winter Springs home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in Winter Springs is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- Trash and recyclingContractorWaste Pro of Florida (city franchise)Weekly: two trash, one recycling and one yard waste pickupCity of Winter Springs · Sep 23, 2026
- ParksThe cityCity of Winter Springs Parks and RecreationCity of Winter Springs · Feb 27, 2026
- City streetsThe cityCity of Winter Springs Public WorksCity of Winter Springs · Feb 27, 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 | LeesburgFL | Winter SpringsFL | AventuraFL | Hallandale BeachFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 37,541 | 39,170 | 40,171 | 41,819 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $261,706 | $225,000 | $237,500 | Not current (2021) |
| Council member pay | $14,229 | Not confirmed | $7,500 | $48,001 |
| General fund per resident | $1,165 | $689 | $1,416 | $3,104 |
| Debt per resident | $3,370 | $522 | $274 | $3,062 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $149 | $-107 | $308 | $1,399 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 14.9 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 11.8 |
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). Aventura pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Winter Springs publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Audited financial report filed on timeFY2025 audit dated Feb. 27, 2026, posted on the Florida Auditor General site, before the June 30, 2026 deadline. Florida Auditor General
- Yes: City manager's contract findable online City of Winter Springs
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineMinutes list each member's vote, e.g. the 3-2 vote on the tentative FY2027 tax rate on Sept. 14, 2026. City of Winter Springs
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe city's Granicus site posts agendas, packets, minutes and audio/video for commission meetings. City of Winter Springs
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document City of Winter Springs · Sep 23, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedWe found no city-published pay list by position. Florida has no statewide database. The budget shows wage totals by division. City of Winter Springs
Questions to ask your council
- Police take $11.07 million of the $27.0 million FY2027 general fund budget. If Amendment 3 passes, how would the city cover lower property tax revenue?
The fiscal year starts Oct. 1. The city manager proposes a budget by July 1 (July 1, 2026 this year). The commission holds a budget workshop and sets a maximum tax rate in July (July 13), then holds two public hearings in September. On Sept. 14, 2026 it set a tentative rate of 2.5160 mills on a 3-2 vote; the final hearing on the FY2027 budget was Sept. 28, 2026. See who is running for council
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