- December 16, 2025
Dave MacDonald, Flagler County Tea Party representative, made a plea to the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners Monday, Aug. 22, for the establishment of a citizen budget committee, to assist county staff in budget prioritizing.
“I’m not asking for any across-the-board cuts,” he said. “What I’m asking for is a chance to work with the county administrator … and ask, ‘Why not try this?’”
Other tea partyers, including Chairman Tom Lawrence and Palm Coast City Council candidate Bill McGuire, a former budget consultant, rallied for lower taxes.
Residents under the Save Our Homes initiative — about 25% of the population, Lawrence estimated — will see tax increases this year. During the past four years, these people have seen about 45% increases in their rates, he said.
Commission Chairman Alan Peterson said that the increases are due to Save Our Homes stipulations, not the county tax rate.
“We go over every single line item, item by item by item,” he said. “We do review it in detail … I want to emphasize again: Your taxes are going down this year; they are not going up.”
MacDonald also suggested that the 3% that government workers must now contribute to their pensions should have further lessened the local tax blow. County Administrator Craig Coffey, however, called the cut “merely a gimmick.”
“(It) will go back up next year,” he said. “The reality is, we’re going to have to make up that money.”
The county, on the other hand, is operating on about $9 million less than it was five years ago, he said — including a $1.5 million dollar cut this year, and a $2.8 million cut last year.
McGuire, who said he’s worked with the local School Board in the past to reduce more than $3 million dollars from their budget, promoted Flagler’s intellectual assets.
“There’s a tremendous wealth of expertise … in our county,” he said.
Jane Mealy, Flagler Beach city commissioner, plugged a “spend money to make money” initiative.
“I’m probably the only person in the room who’ll ask you to spend money,” she told the board, encouraging the board to not overlook economic development funding. More business translates into fewer burdens on the shoulders of taxpayers, she said.
Commissioner Milissa Holland supported a citizen budget council.
Coffey said he’ll gladly consider any submittals.
