Manatee County School Board adopts tentative 6.299 mills and $1.59 billion budget

Chair Cho presided as the School Board of Manatee County on July 30 voted unanimously to adopt a tentative millage rate of 6.299 mills and a tentative 2024–25 budget of $1,590,763,809, including a general operating fund of $700,190,991. The motions passed 5–0 after presentations and discussion by district staff.

Miss Sellers, the district’s budget presenter, told the board that the district could not finalize its advertisement until the Florida Department of Education certified an adjusted required local effort (RLE) of 3.051 and that the district’s assigned reserve is projected to be 7.43% at June 30, 2025. She also highlighted that the district’s projected general fund balance is roughly $66,000,000. “A mill is $1 for every 1,000 in taxable value,” Miss Sellers said while explaining how the millage works and why a lower millage can still yield higher tax dollars when property values rise.

Staff told the board the tentative rate — down from 6.421 mills to 6.299 mills, a 1.9% decrease — nonetheless would lead to higher average annual taxes in many cases because taxable property values rose, roughly from $72.2 billion to $78.7 billion year over year. Miss Sellers also called out gaps between state allocations and district costs for categorical programs: transportation (state allocation shown at about $9.1 million vs. the district’s budgeted cost near $21 million), ESE guaranteed allocation (allocation ~$22.6 million vs. district budgeted ~$46 million), and Safe Schools (allocation ~$5.2 million vs. district budgeted ~$9.5 million).

Superintendent Wysong recommended adoption of the tentative millage and budget; the board approved the millage and then the tentative budget. The board’s adoption is preliminary: after the county tax collector issues proposed millage notices to taxpayers, the board will vote separately on final millage rates and the final budget at a meeting set for Sept. 10.

Board members asked staff for clearer presentation of the final budget book and for definitions of line items such as bus fees and activity bus fees; staff said the final binder in September will provide more detail. The board also discussed meeting start times and public participation logistics, and staff confirmed the slide deck and budget book materials are posted on the district website.

The board approved the agenda at the start of the meeting (motion by Board member (S2); second by Miss Bray (S3); vote 5–0) and approved the advertised adoption and amendments of several policies later in the evening. The tentative millage and tentative budget now move to the statutory public-notice and final-adoption phase set by state timetables.