School Board approves $2.7 billion budget
The Lee County School Board approved a tentative budget of $2.7 billion Tuesday.
The meeting was the first of two public hearings.
The second and final budget hearing will be held Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 5:05 p.m.
The board approved the required local effort millage rate of 3.071, $498,608,981 to be raised; .0748 basic discretionary millage with $121,445,626 to be raised; and a capital outlay millage of 1.500 to raise $243,540,694 for a total millage rate of 5.319 to raise $863,595,301.
One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of assessed taxable property valuation.
The required local effort property tax rate is 3.038 mills for the 2025-2026 school year, a .033 difference. Budget Director Kelly Letcher said this is required to participate in the Florida Education Finance Program.
Letcher said the proposed millage rate of 5.319 mills is a 1.43% increase over the rollback rate of 5.2441 mills.
She said the tax roll of $169 billion is a 5.39% increase over the previous year’s tax rate.
“Normally when see tax roll go up, millage goes down. It’s the first time the tax roll went up, and the millage went up,” Letcher said.
Chief Financial Officer Dr. Ami Desamours said it is the lowest increase in the tax roll since 2019.
“This will be a trend based on all of the economic indicators we have gotten. This will continue over the next several years,” she said.
The effect on taxpayers with a home with a taxable valuation of $100,000, who now have a valuation of $105,390, will see a tax bill of $560.57 for schools, a difference of $31.97.
Letcher said for those taxpayers that have Save Our Home, the taxable value does not go up more than 3%. So, for a home with $100,000 in taxable valuation, the new valuation with Homestead would be $103,000. At the 5.319 tax rate, the bill would be $414.88, a $18.43 increase.
The board also approved a total tentative budget of $2,798,172,189. The budget is broken down into five “buckets” – General Operating of $1,258,324,703; Special Revenue Budget of $117,280,254; Debt Service Budget of $71,050,046; Capital Outlay Budget of $1,129,782,490 and Internal Service Budget of $221,734,696.
Desamours said Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin’s “realignment” of $9.1 million put more money into classrooms.
Letcher said the Florida Education Finance Program makes up a portion of the general fund, about a $1 billion that is received through the program. About $90 million of the total is anticipated for the Family Empowerment Scholarships.
There was a $90 increase over last year, or about a 1% increase for a full-time equivalent — a full-time employee — which is $9,331 per FTE.
The base student allocation is $5,372.60, a $41.62 increase.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com