On Tuesday the Lee County Board of Commissioners will vote on the proposed millage rate for fiscal 2024/2025 which begins on October 1st. County staff is recommending Commissioners keep the millage rate at 3.7623 of $1,000 of assessed property value.
Even with the millage rate staying the same, Lee County will see $56.8 million more in general fund revenue from taxpayers due to the Lee County property appraiser’s final assessments of Lee County properties. Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell says property values in Lee County increased 13% in the last year. Lee County went from taxing on $121 billion worth of property in 2023/2024 to being able to tax on $136 billion worth of property in 2024/2025.
Also, as a result of the higher property values, the Lee County Unincorporated Fund will see $4.8 million more ad valorem revenue and the Library fund will net $6 million more. Lee County has 13 libraries with 294,000 registered users and an approximate budget of $38 million. While the library system is its own taxing district, the Lee County Board of Commissioners manages that Ad Valorem tax.
The Lee County Board of Commissioner will hold two public hearings to discuss the 2024/2025 budget. They will both be at 5PM on September 3rd and September 17th.
A preliminary millage rate must be submitted to the state by August 4th. When the preliminary rate is set next week it can only be lowered as the county goes through the budget process. It can not go above the preliminary rate set.
Lee County has a population of 800,000.
The total Lee County budget is $2.5 billion. 30.2% of the budget comes from Ad Valorem tax money. Water and sewer charges, solid waste fees, development and zoning fees, bridge tolls, and ambulance fees make up another 27.6% of revenue. State and Federal grants make up 10% of revenue. Other taxes such as the tourist tax, gas tax, communication tax make up 4.3%. License and permits make up 2.7%. And, there and “other revenue” category that makes up the remainder of the revenue.
Dependable, Accurate, Investigative Journalism take time. To support our work, become a BTR Monthly Member HERE.
So FMB property owners pay for two different library systems?
Love to know that answer
No. FMB is just charged for one but you can use both.
No, only one library tax for FMB.
There are 12 taxing districts for FMB properties: LeeCo general and hyacinth control; FMB town, library, fire control, mosquito control; West Coast Inland Navigation; schools by local board, schools by state law; and SFWMD has 3 taxing districts: water, Everglades construction, and Okechobee basin.