LEESBURG — Several hot-button topics came up at one scantily attended but heated city meeting.
On Sept. 11, Leesburg commissioners debated a property tax increase, a fee hike, the potential end of the planning and zoning board, and an ongoing disagreement about a real estate transaction.
Leesburg Commissioner Jay Connell, often the odd man out, was once again the sole dissenting no vote when his fellow commissioners, Allyson Berry, Mike Pederson, Alan Reisman and Jimmy Burry, voted 4-to-1 in favor of a nearly 5 percent millage rate increase and fire assessment fee.
In what seems like an ongoing trend, Connell is the lone dissenting voice on topics unpopular with residents’ opinions in social media groups and at city meetings.
Because the city of Leesburg collects property taxes, property owners inside the city limits pay taxes to both the city and Lake County, as well as other taxing authorities such as the school board.
During public comments, Leesburg resident Robert Boliek, part owner of three properties encompassing 48,470 square feet of retail warehouse space, said he is not a proponent of the current millage rate and wants the rolled-back rate.
“The inflation for everything we’re buying and all these costs get passed along to our tenants,” he told the commission. “So, it’s critical that we use a rolled-back rate. I would love to see that 4.89% back in our budget. We developed the budget on it. We need to keep that number.”
Connell agreed with Boliek about the rolled-back rate and said city spending “is getting out of control” and to let citizens “keep more money in their own pockets.”
Connell made a motion to adopt the rolled-back rate, but the motion didn’t get a second and failed.
The commission later voted in favor of the millage rate increase and the fire assessment fee for local businesses.
Pederson clarified that the millage rate is the lowest in the county, including unincorporated areas, except for Montverde.
Connell said he agreed, but didn’t think that residents should have to pay for growth they’re not in favor of.
Commissioner Pederson accused Connell of stirring up the community.
Mario Nappa disagrees. The Leesburg resident and host of a podcast centered on local growth voiced his frustrations about the commission’s 4-to-1 dynamic to the Daily Commercial.
“I do not believe Commissioner Connell is attempting to stir up residents,” Nappa said.
“While I don’t know him personally, I have heard him speak at community events, and it is clear that Connell has the support of District 3 voters who returned him to office for a second term. He listens to and advocates for the concerns of our community, which makes it troubling that some of his fellow commissioners appear more focused on personal agendas than on representing their constituents.”
Nappa mentioned that Connell does not always oppose his colleagues, citing the most recent meeting, when the commissioner supported the rezoning and annexation of land for Kalos Services on U.S. 27.
Nappa’s take was that Connell has tried to play along at times while working to keep costs down and manage growth responsibly, priorities that “matter deeply” to many residents of Leesburg District 3.
Commissioner Burry explained the millage increase in pragmatic terms, that “as the population grows, we add new policemen, we add new cars … our expenses do increase, but we were keeping the rate at which we’re billing the same. Well, so it has increased.”
But Connell continued to make the argument that the millage rate increase was “unfair.”
Connell also spoke out against dissolving the planning and zoning board, an idea that came up during the Sept. 8 city commission meeting.
City Manager Al Minner’s staff had said he would study the possibility and make a resolution in about a month.
“This is a big deal,” emphasized Nappa.
The potential P&Z end highlights the tension between keeping things local, cutting costs and facilitating growth, Nappa said.
“The (planning and zoning) committee is made up of dedicated volunteers who give their time to help protect Leesburg’s character,” Nappa said.
“If the resolution moves forward and passes, those unpaid residents would be replaced by a salaried magistrate, most likely from outside the city. The question is whether commissioners will value cost savings and keeping decisions in the hands of local citizens, versus further fast-tracking development. My hope is that Berry, Reisman and Connell will vote against this measure.”
When the topic turned toward the shuffleboard club lawsuit, tempers flared.
On Sept. 4, the Leesburg Shuffleboard Club filed a lawsuit against the city of Leesburg for donating the land where its tournament-regulation courts are located. Attorney and Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini filed the suit on the club’s behalf, claiming the city charter requires a referendum approval by two-thirds of the electorate for any sale, conveyance, or transfer of a city activity.
The complaint also argues that since the public park comprises a city-recognized recreational activity, the city cannot transfer the property or end the shuffleboard activity without voter approval through a referendum.
Pederson’s said that the Leesburg Shuffleboard Club wasn’t playing nice, and Connell rebutted that “their property” was being given away.
Burry shouted at Connell, “It’s not their property!”
The exchange devolved into a yelling match, bringing back tensions stoked on Aug. 25, 2025, at a crowded and long city commission meeting, when the commission ruled 4-1 to give away the parcel.
Connell corrected himself, emphasizing that it was the city’s land occupied by the shuffleboard club and that the commission shouldn’t have sold the land while it was in use and maintained by citizens.
City Attorney Grant Wilson requested that the city invest in insurance funds and the services of a law firm that would help him investigate the plaintiff’s claims.
Pederson called the litigation “a joke.”
Minner characterized the suit’s claims as an “interesting interpretation” of Leesburg’s charter.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Tensions erupt at Leesburg meeting, touching on taxes, growth and shuffleboarder lawsuit
Reporting by Julie Garisto, Leesburg Daily Commercial / Daily Commercial
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