Commissioners Discuss FY27 Budget; Approve Millage Rate

The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners met on Tuesday to discuss the proposed $695.7 million Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget that begins Oct. 1, 2026. The budget includes the Board of County Commissioners, the constitutional officers, which include the Sheriff, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, and Clerk of Court, and other appropriations for the Tourist Development Council, capital projects, and reserves. Each entity has its own independent budget within the total budget.

Monroe County Administrator Christine Hurley, Assistant Administrator Tina Boan, and Director of Management and Budget John Quinn presented the proposed budget, which includes FY27 revenue estimates, expenditure details, residential real estate trends, and taxable property values, along with General Fund reserves.

The county administrator’s budget principles include fiscal sustainability, safeguarding core services, prioritizing public safety services, promoting fiscal transparency, evaluating government efficiency, planning for economic uncertainty, strengthening reserves, shifting some programs and services to fee-based, where appropriate, and cost-of-living adjustments for staff.

Key FY27 budget points:

• Total FY27 proposed budget of $695,755,099, which reflects a year-over-year increase of $23,687,225 from the FY26 Adopted Budget of $672,067,874. 
  • This year-over-year increase is primarily due to the TDC’s utilization of accrued fund balance for additional community investment, capital projects, events and advertising.
• Maintained the countywide millage rate for FY27 at 2.6929, likely to be the lowest millage rate in Florida again, $269.29 per $100,000 of taxable value.
• Increased FY27 aggregate millage rate to 3.4054, 1.5 percent above the FY26 aggregate rate of 3.3567. 
  • The aggregate millage rate increase was needed to accommodate fire rescue and unincorporated local road patrol salary increases, which were always projected to require a millage increase. 
  • To reduce the aggregate millage rate to match FY26, it would require $2,588,088 in cuts.
• The budget absorbs unavoidable increases in operational costs such as contractually obligated CPI increases for vendors and collective bargaining unit employees. Additional department cuts have been made to compensate and reduce the overall year-over-year cost increase
• Continued investment in public safety: 
  • Compensation increases for fire, EMS & law enforcement personnel to attract and retain a qualified workforce.
  • Replacement of fire apparatus, ambulance remount, and EMS operational equipment.
  • Various maintenance and improvement projects to the Monroe County Detention Center, including spalling, window, kitchen, and plumbing repairs. 

With the proposed budget and countywide average property values, a homesteaded residential property owner with an average appraised taxable value of $665,485 will see a $4.22 monthly increase in their countywide property tax for FY27. Of the total taxable value in Monroe County, 19.64 percent is from homesteaded properties. Non-homesteaded residential properties comprise 60.11 percent of the total taxable value. A non-homesteaded property with a taxable value of $1,105,135 would see a $22.55-per-month increase in countywide property taxes. Commercial property and vacant land represent 16.92 percent and 3.33 percent of the total taxable value, respectively.

Of the total budget, $181.1 million is ad valorem (or from property taxes), 69.9 percent of the ad valorem is for public safety (like law enforcement, fire rescue, detention centers, and the medical examiner), and 21 percent is for the constitutional officers’ operating costs.

FY27 budget timeline:

• The First Public Hearing of the adoption of the tentative budget and millage rate will be Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 5:05 p.m. at the Nelson Government Center in Key Largo.
• The Final Public Hearing will be held on Monday, Sept. 14 at 5:05 p.m. at the Harvey Government Center in Key West. The BOCC adopts the final millage rate and budget at this meeting. 
• Both meetings are hybrid and can be attended in person or via Zoom. Meeting and Zoom information is found at www.monroecounty-fl.gov/meetings. 

The Monroe County Office of Management & Budget will continue to monitor economic and policy developments throughout the summer and remain prepared to respond as circumstances evolve.