Governments · City

Mexico Beach

City of Mexico Beach: who runs it, what it spends and owes, how its commission votes, and what the auditors found, all from public records.

Data updated Oct 20, 2026

Residents1,4022025 state estimate

Property tax rate5.25 mills$525 per $100,000 of taxable value

Debt$3.1M$2,229 per resident · FY2025

Who's in charge

Council-administrator; mayor and four council members, all elected at large; City Administrator appointed by council

Elected

Mayor (Group 1)Richard Wolffuntil May 2027
Group 2Erik Fosshageuntil May 2027
Group 3Linda Hamiltonuntil May 2027
Group 4Lisa LoganAppointed to the seat. appointed April 2026. until next regular electionuntil 2028
Group 5Steve Coxuntil 2028

Appointed staff

City AdministratorMell Smigielski
City ClerkTammy Brunson

Website · Contact · All officials

Property tax rate

Mills: dollars per $1,000 of taxable value

Tax year 20208

Tax year 20217

Tax year 20226.5

Tax year 20235.9999

Tax year 20245.75

Tax year 20255.25

The tick on each bar is the rolled-back rate, the rate that would bring in the same money as the year before. The latest rate is above it, so the city takes in more from existing property than the year before. See your full tax bill

Debt

FY2025 (year ended 2025-09-30)

$3.1M owed — about $2,229 per resident. Bonds payable $3,124,600 (water/sewer revenue bonds). Excludes compensated absences ($122,435) and pension. No governmental-activities debt.

Kind of debt	Owed
Revenue bonds	$3,124,600

Audited financial statements · All local debt

What the auditors found

FY2025: 7 findings · FY2024: 8 findings · FY2023: 8 findings

Management Override and Segregation of Duties (sixth-year repeat) Repeat
The finance office is too small, and had turnover, so the same person could prepare and approve adjusting journal entries. Errors or misstatements could go undetected.
Budgetary Control Repeat
No budget was legally adopted for the Disaster Recovery Fund, even though state law requires spending to follow an adopted budget.
Impact Fee Accounting Repeat
Impact fees were not kept in a separate fund, as s. 163.31801 F.S. requires.
Building Permit Expenditures Repeat
Building department spending is not budgeted or tracked separately, so the city cannot show it complies with the state cap on carrying forward building permit fees (s. 553.80(7)(a) F.S.).

FY2025 audit · All audit findings

How they voted

20 money votes recorded · 10 split (50%)

Most recent split votes

Jul 28, 2026 · 3-2
Denied an incentive agreement with the Duren family
Voted no: not named in the minutes
Jan 27, 2026 · 4-1
Approved Dewberry Engineers task order for municipal complex design
Voted no: Linda Hamilton
Sep 23, 2025 · 4-1
Bought a spider excavator
Voted no: not named in the minutes
Sep 9, 2025 · 3-2
Rejected all pier construction bids and ordered a rebid
Voted no: Richard Wolff, Erik Fosshage

All Mexico Beach votes, by member

Contracts

9 major contracts since October 2022 · $17.2M

Largest

RJ Gorman Contracting, LLC · $8.6M New Mexico Beach pier, FEMA-funded (includes blowout panels and pier extension) (2025-12-16) Source
Gulf Coast Utility Contractors (GCUC) · $4.3M Mexico Beach jetties project (FEMA-funded); award conditional on full FEMA reimbursement and a council notice to proceed (2025-09-09) Source
H.G. Harders & Sons · $1.8M Boat ramp repairs and expansion (FWC grant $986,831; city share $93,470) (2026-06-09) Source

All Mexico Beach contracts