Voters in the central Broward city of Lauderhill will be asked March 10 to approve $65 million in borrowing for public safety improvements, parks, a parking garage and other projects.

The Sun Sentinel recommends a yes vote on all three questions, based on numerous assurances by city officials that the program will not require any property tax increase because the city will borrow the money over an extended period of time.

As the city’s website says: “We can make these investments without increasing the tax rate. As older city debt retires, those dollars are put back to work to fund today’s improvements … The bond does not raise the city’s tax rate.”

Public safety is No. 1

The RISE Lauderhill borrowing program stands for roads, infrastructure, safety and the environment.

Heading the list of projects on Question No. 1 is an expanded police and fire building with a training center, more license plate readers to improve safety and other improvements at a cost of $9.5 million.

The bulk of the money, $34 million, is for parks improvements, on Question No. 2. A third question consists of transportation and road improvements, at $21.5 million. Voters must approve all three questions separately.

The complete list of projects is on the city’s website, lauderhill-fl.gov.

Lauderhill currently has the second-highest overall property tax rate among Broward’s 31 cities and towns according to Property Appraiser Marty Kiar’s website, at 22.7 mills. Only neighboring Lauderdale Lakes has a higher aggregate property tax rate in Broward.

Most of that tax burden is not imposed by Lauderhill but by other taxing bodies, such as the county, school district, public hospital and water management districts, among others.

In addition, Lauderhill commissioners reduced the city’s property tax rate by a half mill (or 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value) in the current year’s budget, from 8 mills to 7.5 mills. The city also reduced its debt service millage rate — the tax levied to pay for previous borrowing.

On Aug. 25, 2025, the Lauderhill City Commission voted 4-1 to put the three bond issue questions before voters on March 10.

City Manager Kennie Hobbs Jr. said the list of projects was developed in a series of 16 meetings with residents over a year’s time. The city has also scheduled a series of four upcoming town hall meetings to educate voters on the ballot questions.

The lone “no” vote was cast by Commissioner Melissa Dunn, who voiced concern about taking on any new borrowing when many residents are suffering financially. The city has ranked near the bottom for years in median household income in Broward.

A dissenting voice

“The city of Lauderhill is ninth in the state of Florida for SNAP benefits,” Dunn told her colleagues, referring to the number of city households that rely on food stamps, about 25%. “I am not comfortable right now in adding additional debt … I don’t want to create additional hardships for residents.”

Lauderhill voters approved a smaller, but very similar, bond program 10 years ago.

Founded in 1959, Lauderhill is an aging city with old infrastructure. Its working-class population is also getting a lot younger. The city is home to about 75,000 people.

The last time Lauderhill asked voters to tax themselves in a bond issue was 10 years ago. They said yes.

The $44.5 million “Building Lauderhill Together” program of a decade ago included police body cameras, speed humps, and a cricket pitch that helped Lauderhill declare itself the “cricket capital of the world.”

The voters said yes then, and they should say yes now.

Note: Our editorial endorsements reflect the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s values and concerns for our community. The newsroom does not participate in editorial board decisions.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. Contact us by email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/02/17/lauderhill-voters-should-ok-bond-program-endorsement/