- May 16, 2024
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The Flagler County School Board approved a tentative total property tax rate of $5.403 per $1,000 in taxable value — a slight decrease from last year's rate — during a public hearing on Aug. 1.
The board also approved an approximately $325 million tentative budget.
The proposed 2023-2024 millage rate is the lowest in over 20 years. Still, it is expected to raise more money than last year's rate of $5.546 per $1,000 because taxable property values in the county have risen by 10.9%, or approximately $1.7 billion, to a total of $16.7 billion.
The proposed rate is 3.22% over the rollback rate — the rate that would bring in the same dollar amount of revenue as the previous year's rate, district Chief Financial Officer Patty Wormeck told the board.
In Florida, the state government sets most school-related property taxes for each district, then collects that money and redistributes it to school districts using formulas that even out per-student funding between wealthy and less wealthy counties.
The state-required local effort millage for Flagler County this year is $3.155 per $1,000 in taxable value, while another $0.748 per $1,000 would go to the district's operating fund, and an additional $1.5 per $1,000 would go to the district's capital outlay fund.
Altogether, those rates — totaling 5.403 — are expected to raise $90,478,511.
Other sources, such as state and federal grants, bring the school district's overall projected revenue to slightly over $130 million, and the district also expects to transfer $6.3 million from its capital fund, Wormeck said.
Salaries and benefits account for 83% of the district's proposed General Fund expenditures for the coming year.
The biggest projected capital project for the coming fiscal year is a $3 million effort to resurface the parking lots at Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Flagler expects to have 14,161 students this year, including charter school students.
The School Board will hold its final public hearing on the proposed final millage and budget at 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
