- December 4, 2025
For the fifth consecutive year, Flagler County is proposing a lower millage rate for the upcoming fiscal year's $329 million budget.
On Monday, July 14, the County Commission unanimously set the maximum proposed operating millage and debt service millage rates. The property tax rate for the operating budget is being proposed to remain the same as last year's — 7.9945 mills, or $7.9945 per $1,000 in taxable property value —while its debt service millage rate is going dow by over 20%. This is due to a lower millage rate needed for the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands debt and a 2015 refinancing of a previous bond to construct the Judicial Center.
The general fund millage rate, according to Flagler County, will generate over $135 million, an increase of $12.4 million, or 10.12%, from the 2024-2025 revenue.
"The fiscal year 26 tentative budget aligns closely with the board's policies and strategic priorities," County Administrator Heidi Petito said. "It strengthens our financial position with an increase in general fund reserves and it includes, as I mentioned, the fifth consecutive millage rate reduction."
Key allocations to be funded by property tax revenue include increased funding for employee benefits, 15 new firefighter/paramedics, three new deputies for the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, support for the transition of the 911 dispatch center to the county and three new positions at the Nexus Center.
The first public hearing to adopt the budget and tax rate will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11.
The budget is also setting aside $12.55 million for capital projects, which, is $11.55 million less than what the county set aside in the 2025 budget. The $12.55 million, Petito said, doesn't include stormwater or beach projects — those were included under operating costs.
County Commissioner Greg Hansen addressed some of the budget cuts, saying they "are going to hurt the public."
"Some of the reductions, they're going to feel right away," Hansen said, citing reduced library services as an example.
Others, like cuts to stormwater, road maintenance and beach replenishment projects, will be felt later.
"New people are going to come and they're going to have to deal with this downstream," Hansen said. "We haven't sufficiently made infrastructure gains in this budget, and I'm just afraid that's going to hurt the county."
Petito said the county has about $14 million set aside for stormwater, roads and the beach. But, she acknowledged, they are one-time funds.
"We do need to work on probably coming up with some more dedicated funding that is recurring moving forward, but it is the start of funding," she said. "It doesn't mean that we stop the conversation on trying to come up with creative ways to continue to move that needle."
In roadways alone, she said the county will need to start looking at ways to generate $10-$12 million a year. The beach and stormwater will likely need similar amounts.
"All of them are important, but this year does have us at least building and starting to put money towards that," Petito said.
In addition to the tax rates, the County Commission also established the proposed special assessment rates for fiscal year 2025.
Which, does not include a Municipal Services Benefit Unit to fund beach renourishment.
County Commissioner Kim Carney said that the board had received a memo on July 3 regarding a timeline for a special assessment, and that the memo outlined using an MSBU for construction versus maintenance of the beach.
Not including a special assessment district to fund the beach in 2026 is a "missed opportunity," Carney said.
"This is part of I think what Commissioner Hansen wants — which is the continual funding source that I always thought was part of the plan," Carney said, adding that she and Petito are planning to meet with the City of Flagler Beach to present the idea of an MSBU.
"I know there are many people in The Hammock anticipating this MSBU, and I don't know that we fully executed based on what our timeline was back in 2024," Carney said.
Petito said that the discussion has been on the table for at least two years, and it's taken different forms. When talking about construction on the beach, the county wasn't looking at an MSBU; it was aimed to help maintain the beach.
"If we were able to get the cities on board earlier in the year, then, yeah, we probably would have done the MSBU because it serves a different path moving forward," Petito said.
Discussions fell apart, but there is still time, she said. An MSBU could help the county commit to maintaining an easement for Reach III (north of Varn Park and south of Mala Compra), but the county wouldn't look to use it to fund construction.
"It was brought up in discussions that we wouldn't look to do it as part of the construction, because we didn't charge the people south of the northern 10 for coming to the table with funding," Petito said. "We just arbitrarily applied funding received at a starting point and started moving north, and then as we start moving north and we run out of funding, is it fair and equitable to charge the people there, when no fault of their own, we applied the money somewhere else? It could have been applied in their area, but we chose to apply it somewhere else."
Carney said that the county needs to identify the funding and complete Reach III, as no matter who pays for it, everyone in the county will benefit.
The county does have $8.1 million in the budget next year for the beach.
