ORANGE PARK — The Town of Orange Park adopted a 5.90 millage rate for the new fiscal year with a 5-0 vote on Tuesday evening.

After weeks of budgeting sessions, the town arrived at the number as a stark difference from the originally proposed 6.15. During the meeting, there was also discussion that further decreased the rate from 5.95. Councilman Kenneth Vogel urged that dropping the number would be in good faith to residents.

"We understand these are tough times, and we know that we have raised rates in other areas. And there's certainly some fees in some other areas. But we want to be able to have a little bit of good faith," Vogel said.

The final millage has a current rollback rate of 5.7071 mills, which it exceeds by 3.38%.

Additionally, councilmembers settled on a final budget. With $35.5 million in revenue and $36.9 million in expenditures, the town's general fund still carries a deficit of $360,649. This will be funded through its reserves.

After evaluating expenses and reallocating funds, there were also several cuts that the town agreed on, including reducing Carrie Clarke Day and Orange Park After Dark by $2,000 and $11,750, respectively.

With a proposed operating budget of $42.4 million, the council members were tasked with relieving the town of a more than $600,000 deficit. That meant evaluating expenses and finding ways to reallocate money.

Most cuts came from the town's $15.6 million general fund budget. That included reducing medical insurance costs for town employees by $107,877, eliminating one CE officer by $47,533, and removing the town's park picnic tables and sign grant funds by a total of $66,000.

Carrie Clarke Day will also see some future changes with reduced funding of $2,000. The annual free event held every March features historic demonstrations, tours and live music. And after the return of Orange Park After Dark, an adult summer concert series, the council decided to cut its funding by more than $11,000.

"We have to look at every dollar we are spending and make sure it's spent correctly," said Councilman Randy Anderson.

By the end of the evening, council also approved a tentative 5.95 millage rate, a decrease from the original 6.15.