SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Homeowners in Seminole County will likely see the first increase to their property tax rate in over a decade as commissioners work to balance the budget for the upcoming year.
Tuesday, commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the proposed property tax rate, or millage rate, for the countywide general fund to 5.3571. It’s a 0.5 mill increase from the previous fiscal year of 4.8751.
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News 6 first reported on the proposed rate increase after a draft posted online for Fiscal Year 2025-26 showed the following revenue adjustments:
- A 0.5 mill increase to the countywide property tax rate
- An increase of the Local Option Gas Tax from 6 cents to 11 cents per gallon, bringing Seminole County in line with every surrounding Central Florida county
- An increase to the Utility Services Tax in unincorporated areas, applied to electricity, natural gas, and water services
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Once the rate is finalized, the average homeowner would pay about $144 dollars more each year, according to an example given during Tuesday’s meeting.
Before commissioners voted, county staff said the increase to the property tax rate would generate an additional $27.2 million dollars for the FY26 proposed budget.
“Transit costs, state mandates without funding, inflation, and increasing costs in public safety personnel have led and compounded an ongoing structural imbalance to our general fund, which you all know is our main operating funds,” said County Manager Darren Gray.
County leaders have been planning for the upcoming budget in workshops and meetings throughout the year. County Manager Darren Gray said revenue has been flat or declined over the last several fiscal years, even as the population has continued to grow.
[See below for the 2025-26 County Manager Proposed Worksession Budget]
“That disconnect forces difficult choices,” said Gray. “We must either reduce our services or identify new revenues that allow us to keep up with demand.”
Commissioners listened to numerous comments from the public and gave their thoughts before voting to approve the proposed rate increase.
Commissioner Andria Herr said the county can’t “cut our way out of this.”
“We literally could sell three golf courses, not fund Seminole Forever, get rid of the libraries, and that’s one time revenue,” said Herr. “When you sell an asset, it doesn’t get you out of a recurring expense, and the recurring expenses are absolutely funding the community’s way of life. It is our safety. It is our ability to transfer from one location to another, to get to work, to get to play, to get to live. It is our clean water. It is all of the things that we were put here to do.”
Chairman Jay Zembower said the county has been relying on money from reserves to balance the budget in previous years, but it won’t last long term.
“I’ve had a lot of folks email about ‘well spend down the reserves.’ Well, we’ve been spending down the reserves now for about fice or six years, and so, you know, you get to the point where there is no reserves and then you’ve got a problem,” said Zembower. “This government has been incurring the rising costs of everything for the last four to five years and has not passed that along. Well, those chickens come home to roost and that chicken is now home.”
Figures presented to the Board of Commissioners Tuesday reiterated a budget deficit of around $34 million for the 2026 fiscal year. They also show the budget increases for the clerk’s office, supervisor of elections, sheriff’s office and more.
During a workshop in June, News 6 reported the sheriff asked for $16 million more for his budget this year, mostly to boost the starting pay for deputies in a competitive job market. Since that meeting, the department trimmed back their budget request by $900,000.
[See below for the Fiscal Year 2025-25 Proposed Budget for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office]
Public safety costs account for the majority of Seminole County’s budget.
Commissioner Bob Dallari, who was the only member of the Board to vote against the proposed property tax rate increase, suggested the county may need to restructure moving forward.
“We have to have a smart plan to move forward. We have to reshape and reorganize our government to meet our current needs. We have to evaluate and revise our department structure and our staffing levels,” said Dallari. “I’m not going to defund anyone, but we have to restructure to be properly funded.”
Commissioner Amy Lockhart urged the public to look at exactly how much they may owe on their tax bill before they panic.
“Whether we do it or not I just want to make sure no one is spending the extra anxiety over this type of event,” said Lockhart. “Most of the folks who I talked to last night, their increases were in the $3-$6 per month extra because they are lower income seniors and they’ve lived here for many, many years. Several of them were very relieved to hear it might only be $3 or $6. I’m not saying that that means it’s nothing. It is. Every dollar counts.”
“These five folks and the staff that you see here today controls 33% of the budget,” Commissioner Lee Constantine said before public comment. “And that 33% of the budget has increased by this potential budget request 1.3%. Less than the cost of living. Less than inflation.”
The millage rates will not be final until the county finalizes the budget for the next fiscal year. There are two public hearings coming up in September:
- Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in BCC Chambers
- Sept. 23 at 5:30 p.m. in BCC Chambers