- December 4, 2025
The Volusia County Council moved to lower taxes marginally during the county's first budget hearing on Thursday, Sept. 4, by going to rollback in its fire rescue fund.
The council voted 5-2 — with Councilmen Matt Reinhart and Danny Robbins voting against — to adopt the rollback rate of 3.6236 mills, or $3.6236 per $1,000 in taxable property value. Going to rollback, a 5.7% tax rate decrease, will still fully fund all current service levels within unincorporated Volusia County, which includes Ormond-by-the-Sea, and avoids cuts to the final budget request submitted by Volusia County Fire Rescue, according to staff.
The rollback rate would result in a $32.64 savings, based on a taxable value of $150,000, while adding over $4 million to the fire rescue fund's reserves. The millage would bring in over $47 million in revenue.
Commissioner Jake Johansson asked staff if, in years past, the county overtaxed its residents in the fire rescue fund. County Director Ryan Ossowki replied that one of the ways government builds up reserves is to tax more than what is needed for expenditures in a given year.
Volusia County is forecasted to have $30 million in reserves, including grant match dollars and emergency funds, for fiscal year 2025-2026, at the rollback rate.
"So as I understand it, we have a decent reserve," Johansson said. "We can pay for some of the nice-to-haves that are on our option list and we can go to the rollback rate and not over-tax, at least for one year, to let it normalize — see how it goes."
Going to a flat millage rate of 3.8412 mills in the fire rescue fund would have generated an extra $2.8 million in revenue. Those funds could've been used to add a tender truck and three firefighters in rural Volusia County; add three quick response vehicles to respond to scenes before a crew can arrive; help purchase land for Station 47 near Ormond Beach; and advance funding for a new logistics center that is forecasted for fiscal year 2027-2028.
Councilman David Santiago asked if these projects could be funded using $5 million in one-time dollars due to excess funds in the county's Volunteer Firefighter Pension Fund. Emergency Services Director Aaron Van Kleek said that was an option, as the majority of the funds were slated to go into reserves.
Robins, however, said that because the governor has been toying with the idea of eliminating property tax on homesteaded properties, he would rather go with a flat fee for the fire services fund.
Ossowski said there's a lot still in the air about that issue.
"I'm sure there would be a rigorous campaign about how this could affect property owners and residents of the state," he said. "So there's a lot of hypotheticals of what could happen and a lot of them do worry me, don't get me wrong, but we'd have to see the exact scenario that we're under to properly estimate and plan."
Robins said he understood, but still had concerns.
"Imagine the ballot language: 'Vote yes to end property taxes.'" he said. "... It's going to be better than sliced bread. We're going to have to figure this out. I want to fully fund our first responders across the board, the best we can, plan for it, so we don't have to possibly come back and hit them hard."
Councilman Troy Kent countered the argument that if the county doesn't adopt a flat rate for fire rescue, then it's not supporting first responders.
"Absolutely not the case at all," Kent said. "The case is, I'm a supporter of making sure we're funded properly, which we are, and then putting that extra money that they want to have in their fund in your pockets to keep. You should keep that money in your pocket, not just continue to give it to a government agency."
Every department head, Kent said, would be thrilled with an additional $2.8 million and find ways to spend it. But rollback, he explained, funds what the county wants in the present.
The County Council will also be requesting an appeal of the Volusia County Property Appraiser's budget.
The property appraiser, a constitutional officer, is seeking a $1.5 million building renovation. This, Ossowkski said, increases the county's general fund contribution by over a million dollars.
Santiago asked for the council to request an appeal to the property appraiser's budget back to the state because of this, adding that he recently learned that the property appraiser would also be proposing a $2,000 bonus for every employee and for his office to pay for health care for employees and their families.
No other county employees have this benefit, Santiago said.
"In today's world, with DOGE and the pushback we're getting with the budgets, this is not acceptable," he said.
Additionally, the property appraiser doesn't yet own the building it is seeking a $1.5 million renovation for.
Johansson asked if, before requesting an appeal, the county speak with Property Appraiser Larry Bartlett about his budget. But Santiago said requesting an appeal would be a statement that "the process is broken."
"The current structure is almost like a rubber stamp, which was what we've been doing with all the constitutionals — we've been rubber stamping and taking the blame for the tax increases, or whatever you want to call it, or decreases," Santiago said.
When it comes to the rest of the county's tax fund, the County Council rolled back four others and kept a flat tax rate for the rest, including the general fund at 3.2007 mills.
County Chair Jeff Brower asked if the county could go to rollback for its general fund. The answer was yes, but it would mean about $10 million in cuts.
"I just caution that a full rollback would be extremely difficult," County Manager George Recktenwald said. "It would definitely mean cuts and services."
Johansson said he likes rollback, but they should've mentioned that to staff two months ago. Kent agreed.
Brower said that he thinks they have to keep the pressure to cut as much from the budget as possible, particularly in light of the threat of eliminating property taxes altogether.
"I'd love to see that happen," Brower said. "It scares me to death, though, when I try and picture how they're going to fund it, because then we lose local control on funding — the state will tell us how much money we have. ... I want them to see that we're doing everything we possibly can to continue to be fiscally conservative. I think we have been."
Volusia has not received a Florida DOGE letter, Ossowski said. Compared to other counties in the state, he said Volusia had the fourth lowest increase in property taxes.
The Library, Ponce De Leon Inlet & Port District, Silver Sands Bethune Beach Municipal Service District, and East Volusia Mosquito Control funds were the funds that went to rollback.
Volusia County's operating budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 is $1.4 billion.
