Lee County School Board adopts 5.319 millage rate and $2.92 billion final budget

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Lee County School Board on Sept. 9 adopted final millage rates and a $2,919,795,073 budget for fiscal year 2025–26, approving a total millage of 5.319 mills, a 1.43% increase over the state-calculated rollback rate.

The board adopted the required local effort millage of 3.071 mills (to raise $498,608,981), the basic discretionary millage of 0.748 mills (to raise $121,445,626) and the capital outlay millage of 1.5 mills (to raise $243,540,694). Superintendent Dr. Carlin presented the five recommendations and each passed on unanimous recorded votes (6–0).

The final budget totals $2,919,795,073 and is organized into five parts the board approved: general operating ($1,281,739,638), special revenue ($131,705,825), debt service ($99,018,536), capital outlay ($1,181,726,237) and internal service ($225,604,837). Finance staff said the general fund — the district’s day-to-day operating budget — is about $1.3 billion and that capital and…