Seminole County set to increase its property tax rate by 0.5 mills

In a split vote, Seminole County set the stage to increase its property tax rate by 0.5 mills in September – the first time the county has done so in 16 years. 

Seminole County is facing a $35 million deficit in its 2025-26 budget, as federal American Rescue Act stimulus money runs out and costs have been increasing. The board voted 4-1 to increase its base property tax rate by 0.5 mills to 5.3751, a 6.4 percent increase. 

Seminole County Commission Chairman Jay Zembower called the county’s budget “pretty darn lean.” He said when state and federal officials cut taxes, that’s leaving it for local governments to fund the difference.

“This business, this government, has been incurring the rising costs of everything for the last four to five years and [we] have not passed that along,” Zembower said. “Well, those chickens (have) come home to roost.”

Seminole County Commissioner Bob Dallari, left, voted against a possible property tax increase. Facing a $35 million budget deficit, commissioners set the stage to raise property tax rates by 0.5 mills in September. (Abe Aboraya, Oviedo Community News)

Seminole County Commissioner Bob Dallari was the lone vote against the potential tax increase. He said he wants to see more efficiencies in the county.

“We have to live within our existing rate that we presently have,” Dallari said. “Raising taxes, as some of us just talked about, is only a temporary solution to the budget shortfalls. So we have to restructure ourselves.”

The county heard from at least nine residents opposed to the possible tax increase. That included Geneva resident Nancy Harmon. 

She said when the county commissioners were asking residents to approve the 10-year extension of the penny sales tax last November, she thought that was to head off a property tax increase.

“Were we duped? We were told if we voted for the penny sales tax, chances are, we wouldn’t have to be here having this conversation,” Harmon said. “What I can’t deal with right now is the fact that we’re being levied this expense at the degree that we’re being levied. I don’t know if it can be gradually applied.”

What’s driving the budget shortfalls

Seminole County has a total of three millage rates it charges. 

The first is the base millage, which is possibly raising by 0.5 mills. The county also charges a separate millage of 2.7649 for fire service, which is paid in unincorporated Seminole County and in Winter Springs, Altamonte Springs and Casselberry, which contract fire services from Seminole County. Those living in unincorporated Seminole County also pay 0.1107 mills for roads and transportation.

That means the total millage rate in unincorporated Seminole County would go from 7.7507 to 8.2507. That means someone paying property taxes on a $200,000 home would see their tax county tax bill go up by about $100 per year, to $1,650. 

The county is also asking to increase the Local Option Gas Tax by an additional 5 cents per gallon. The county currently gets $15.3 million in gas taxes, and increasing it to the maximum allowed under law would generate another $8.8 million, with $5.5 million going to the county and $3.3 million being sent to the seven cities. 

Additionally, the county currently charges a 4% utility tax on electricity, water, propane and natural gas. The county is also looking to increase that tax to 10%, which would generate another $12 million per year. 

County Commissioner Andrea Herr said the county is trying a balanced approach to the budget. 

“We can’t cut our way out of this,” Herr said. “We need to fix where we are now from a structural balance perspective, and then we need to be effective in our decision making going forward so that we’re not here again five years from now. That applies to us. And that applies to the constitutional officers as well.” 

Commissioner Lee Constantine said the issue is that 33% of the county’s budget is controlled by the county. The remainder is other elected officers, like the Supervisor of Elections and the Clerk of Courts. 

And public safety is the largest part of that. Constantine said the sheriff’s office is asking for $900,000 less than the original ask. 

“All due respect, and we all love public safety, we said the sheriff has cut nearly a million dollars… of $16 million that he’s asked for,” Constantine said. “So he hasn’t really cut a million, he’s only asked for a $15 million increase, not a $16 million increase.”

In Florida, if a sheriff’s budget is altered by the county, the sheriff can appeal to Florida’s cabinet.

The sheriff has previously said the bulk of his budget increase would go toward salaries; specifically, toward raising the starting salary from $58,000 to, possibly, $65,000; other cities, like Oviedo and Sanford, have recently raised their starting salaries as well.

Seminole County has been pulling money from reserves for the last two years to balance the budget. In the 2023-24 budget, the county pulled $4 million from reserves. Last year, it pulled $19.5 million. Next year, the county would have to pull $35 million in reserves if it doesn’t make the tax increases or find additional ways to cut costs.

That would reduce the county’s reserves from $58.4 million, or 17.4% of its annual revenue, to $27.4 million, or about 9%. Dropping its reserves too low could jeopardize the county’s credit rating and cause it to pay more in interest to borrow money.

This isn’t the final vote on the property tax rate. Commissioners voted to approve the Truth in Millage Rate, which is the legal maximum that will be sent to property owners in the county and will need to be finalized at two more meetings. 

The commission will meet Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. for the first vote to approve the budget and the millage rate. There will be a second and final vote on the budget on Tuesday, Sept. 23 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

“When you come back in September to vote on the budget, you can always reduce the millage rate at that time,” County Manager Darren Gray said. “But you cannot increase the millage rate at that time after it’s been advertised.”

In other news, Seminole County: 

1. Approved the name SCOUT for its new micro-transit system. This is the Uber-like, on-demand transportation system that’s taking the place of many Lynx bus routes later this year. The county needs to approve the name so it can begin wrapping vehicles and creating marketing material for the program. 
2. Approved spending $1 million to buy two parcels of land to expand Red Bug Lake Park. The two parcels, located at 3800 and and 3900 Lavender Way in Casselberry, have long been eyed for possible expansions to the county’s busiest park. The county is also interested in a third property, but the owners have previously said it’s not for sale. 

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Abe Aboraya is a Report for America corps member.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misidentified County Manager Darren Gray as Darren Soto.