By Skip Foster, Red Tape Florida
The City of Tallahassee paid 171 employees a combined $3.87 million to walk away this spring. City staff told commissioners the program would save taxpayers roughly $8.46 million.
So, Red Tape Florida went looking for those savings in the proposed FY 2026-27 budget.
We couldn’t find them.
According to the City’s own online budget portal (which was updated June 9), the total salary line doesn’t shrink after 171 departures — it grows.
From roughly $181.5 million in the current budget to roughly $187.1 million proposed for next year. That’s $5.6 million more being spent on salaries, not less, following the departure of 171 people the City itself credited with generating millions in savings.
For context: those 171 employees likely represented well over $10 million in annual salary alone, and substantially more once benefits are included. The program had age and service requirements, which tends to select for longer-tenured, higher-paid employees — 28 of the 171 made six figures, and the ten highest-paid alone accounted for more than $1.8 million in salary. Factor in the City’s own fringe benefit rate of roughly 43 to 45 percent, and the true compensation value of those positions was likely as much as $18 million a year, perhaps more.
An $8.46 million savings figure out of that much payroll may not be an outlandish number to land on. But that’s exactly what makes the salary line increasing by $5.6 million so hard to square. If the City already expected to refill some of these positions — staff has confirmed at least nine so far, with that number expected to grow to around 30 — then say so, and show the math. Right now, the public has a savings claim, a budget that moves in the opposite direction, and no explanation connecting the two.
Red Tape Florida has submitted public records requests seeking:
- The model or spreadsheet City staff used to calculate the projected $8.46 million in savings
- Records identifying which of the 171 vacated positions are being eliminated, frozen, or refilled
- Documentation explaining why the proposed salary budget increases despite the workforce reduction
If a document exists showing how the $8.46 million figure was calculated, it should also show which positions were assumed vacant and which were assumed refilled. If no such document exists, that’s worth knowing too.
Public budgets should be understandable without a records request. When government asks taxpayers to believe a program will save millions while the largest salary line in the budget increases instead, the burden is on government to explain why — not on the public to assume there’s a good reason.
We’ll update this story when the City provides the records.