Seminole County Public Schools approves a lower property tax

The Seminole County School Board approved a proposed lower property tax rate for the coming year at its Tuesday night meeting.

The total property tax rate for the school district is 5.279 mills, down from 5.378 the year prior. That proposed rate translates to about $528 for every $100,000 of taxable value for a home. 

While the property tax rate is going down, most homeowners in Seminole County will still end up paying a little more in their total tax bill because of increases in home values. The average taxable value in Seminole County for next year is $236,754, up from $218,763 in 2023. That means the school district’s cut of the property tax bill for a typical homeowner in Seminole County would go from $1,176 last year to $1,249 in 2024 – a $73 increase. 

SCPS Chief Financial Officer Tim Bargeron said school board taxes aren’t like traditional government taxes. The largest portion of the property tax rate is what’s called the Required Local Effort – and that is set by state officials. 

“We can do nothing about [required local effort],” Bargeron said. “If we don’t levy that, we don’t get the extra state money in the [Florida Education Finance Program] formula that gets us up to that per-student funding amount.”

The total proposed budget for 2024-25 is nearly $1.1 billion ($1,094,624,657), and includes nearly $175 million for construction projects. That’s down from about $1.3 billion the year prior. SCPS is expecting a slight drop in enrollment as more parents opt for private school.

No one from the public commented on the proposed SCPS tax rate. Tuesday night’s vote was not the final say on the budget. The school board will meet and finalize the budget and the property tax rate at its meeting Sept. 10, 2024 at 5 p.m. at 400 E. Lake Mary Blvd. in Sanford.