St. Lucie County adopts tentative FY2025–26 millage and budget; board directs $1 million cut before final hearing

The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 4 adopted tentative millage rates for the 2025–26 fiscal year and approved a tentative $913 million budget while directing staff to identify a $1 million reduction to lower the millage before the final hearing on Sept. 18.

County staff told the board the tentative aggregate millage rate for FY2025–26 is 8.0219 mills, a 7.17% decrease from the current aggregate rate but a 5.45% increase relative to the aggregate rollback rate of 7.6071 mills. Individual tentative millage components presented included a general fund rate of 4.2222 mills, a fine-and-forfeiture rate of 2.7294 mills and several MSTU and special rates (for example, a law enforcement MSTU of 0.8403 mills and a transit MSTU of 0.25 mills). The county-wide tentative budget presented totaled approximately $913.09 million.

Why it matters: The tentative millage and budget set the framework for the county’s spending plan; the board can lower but not raise these tentative rates before final adoption. Commissioners said they wanted to continue lowering the millage where possible while preserving funding for public safety and mandated services.

Budget balance and recent audit adjustments

Jennifer Hill of the Office of Management and Budget explained recent fund-balance detail referenced during public comment. Hill said the audited beginning fund balance for the general fund was $112,959,020—about $20.8 million higher than the adopted estimate—but that most of that difference was restricted. She said roughly $8 million was restricted for grants and programs, about $8.9 million was earmarked for capital projects carried into the new fiscal year, leaving about $3.9 million that was truly unrestricted. That $3.9 million, Hill…