- February 5, 2026
As Flagler County and Flagler Beach begin budgeting discussions, Flagler Beach commissioners want to know if funding for the lifeguard program will continue.
In 2025, as Flagler County prepared for the 2026 fiscal year budget, the Flagler County Commission had discussed ending its funding to the lifeguard program. The program pays for lifeguards to guard the area of the beach that is beneath the boardwalk in Flagler Beach, and is funded by the county and the city of Flagler Beach.
At a joint municipality meeting on Feb. 4, Flagler Beach Commissioner Eric Cooley asked Flagler County Commissioner Kim Carney and Chairwoman Leann Pennington whether the county will continue funding the program this year.
“What we would request is that the county has a discussion probably a little bit sooner into the [budgeting] season,” Cooley said. “So when budgeting does start, there's no panic to figure things out.”
The county’s contribution to the program is $106,000, with a built-in consumer price index adjustment, according to information provided in the joint meeting.
Pennington said that the county has not had any discussions since about cutting the program, but, as the county faces the prospect of losing its property tax revenue in the future, could be cut in the future.
“It's a necessity to have lifeguards. And it is a program that is certainly expensive. It's getting up there,” Pennington said.
There are several bills in the Florida legislature that would end or majorly curtail the property tax revenue available to municipalities.
Pennington committed to working with Flagler Beach to try to secure the funding for the program in the upcoming budget cycle, but admitted she didn’t know what the numbers would look like with the CPI.
“We will keep it in our budget for discussions and I'll certainly attempt to make sure it gets funded for you,” Pennington said.
Carney pointed out that the county is not statutorily required to provide funding for lifeguards. It’s good to have it, she said, and good for the insurance, but it’s “a local preference.” None of the other beaches in Flagler County have lifeguards.
“The lifeguard issue at any municipality is a benefit,” Carney said. “It's not a requirement. So the county is not required statutorily to provide any lifeguard assistance.”
Beverly Beach Mayor Stephen Emmett asked about other counties, which, he said, do provide lifeguards.
“I feel it’s part of the county's issue to support lifeguards,” Emmett said.
Those counties control their beaches, Carney said, and Flagler County is one of the only counties that does not control its beaches.
Cooley said it is important for the Flagler Beach Commission to know the county’s position.
“There’s a concern as a whole in the county,” he said, “of where can county residents go to have lifeguards if Flagler Beach and the county were to pivot and go another direction.”
