Lake County adopts FY2026 millage rates and $1.052 billion budget; $500,000 moved to road resurfacing

Lake County commissioners on Sept. 23 adopted final millage rates for fiscal year 2026, approved changes to the tentative budget and adopted a $1,052,083,591 final budget. The board also agreed by consensus to move $500,000 from a capital project into the road resurfacing fund.

“The purpose of tonight's meeting is to hold the final public hearing to adopt the millage rates and the budget for fiscal year 2026,” said Allison Teslia, director of the Office of Management and Budget, at the start of the hearing.

The board voted 3–2 to keep the countywide general-fund millage at the rate presented (5.0254 mills). The remaining special millages — including the ambulance millage (0.4629 mills), the Fire Rescue millage (0.48 mills), the stormwater/parks/roads millage (0.4957 mills) and the Lake County Water Authority millage (0.294 mills) — were approved together on a 5–0 vote. The public lands voted debt millage of 0.04 mills, which was approved by referendum and is not included in rollback calculations, was noted in the presentation.

Commissioners also approved changes to the tentative FY2026 budget, which the county staff summarized as totaling $15,071,135 in adjustments. Major components of the changes identified by county staff include rebudgets for capital projects (including a $5,000,000 allocation for a detention-center chiller project and $2,700,000 in transportation improvement adjustments), updated purchase-order carryforward estimates, grant award adjustments and the incorporation of the drug treatment court budget.

During the meeting board members discussed reallocating $500,000 that had been proposed as a budget reduction into the road resurfacing program. Staff said the $500,000 would come from an identified capital project that is not yet shovel-ready and that the transfer would be a one-time capital funding transfer. Commissioners clarified that any use of reserves for hurricane response or other emergency needs would be brought back to the board before funds were spent.

The board adopted the resolution establishing the final FY2026 budget (resolution 2025-119) for $1,052,083,591 by voice vote; commissioners said “aye” and no opposition was recorded in the transcript.

Key budget and millage figures presented by the Office of Management and Budget included $7,600,000 budgeted for road resurfacing; a General Fund operating reserve of $28,200,000 (about 10.6% of the operating budget); a $4,500,000 special reserve for roads and infrastructure; and continued funding to implement a $16 minimum wage and compression adjustments. Department position requests were described as largely focused on public safety, public works and water resources. Staff also reported an aggregate proposed millage rate of 6.2371 mills for the county, which the presentation said is 5.05% above the aggregate rollback rate of 5.937 mills.

The board’s actions conclude the county’s FY2026 millage and budget adoption process as outlined in Chapter 129 of the Florida Statutes for annual tax rate and budget adoption.