A county near Orlando voted to raise its property taxes for the first time in 16 years, even as Florida demands municipalities cut their budgets and considers eliminating property taxes for homeowners in the state.
On Sept. 23, commissioners in Seminole County, Florida, voted 4-1 to increase the millage rate used to determine local property taxes from $4.88 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable value to $5.38. The new rate is set to take effect on Wednesday.
At the same meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a $1.2 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year. County documents show the new millage rate is expected to bring in an additional $45.1 million over the previous year.
Seminole last raised the countywide rate in 2009 to $4.90, but lowered it to $4.88 a year later, according to county records.
Saw it coming
County Chairman Jay Zembower, who voted for the increase, said the county has been preparing to make this decision for years.
“We were told by our budget office three years ago that, come 2026-27, we were going to have a significant gap in our budget and not be able to meet our requirements,” Zembower told Homes.com.
Increasing service costs were mostly to blame for the shortfall, especially a need to increase sheriff pay by 16% in order to keep recruits from leaving for higher paying municipalities, according to Zembower.
“The surprise we got was that, in the sheriff’s compensation, that profession has gone off the maps,” he said.
The county is also concerned about cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Zembower said. The emergency agency often covers much of the costs of damages following hurricanes or flooding events.
“We have to write those checks immediately, and if we can’t get reimbursed, we have a problem,” he said.
Statewide budget crackdown
Florida is currently considering eliminating property taxes statewide. Spurred by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the legislature has convened a select committee to study proposals for how such a system would work.
Cragin Mosteller, director of external affairs for the Florida Association of Counties, said income from property taxes is difficult to replace.
“Property taxes are a wholly local source of revenue for a county, so it is how they pay for the majority of services they provide for residents,” she said.
Counties have other options for increasing revenue, such as creating special tax districts, Mosteller said. “But that requires a vote of the people. Most things require input and votes from their citizens.”
Florida is also running its own version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, that has been chastising municipalities for what it sees as wasteful budgets. In September, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia accused Orange County, home of Orlando, of overspending by $190 million.
Seminole County is part of Orlando’s metropolitan statistical area, though it was not included in Ingoglia’s figures. The county includes the cities of Sanford, Altamonte Springs and Oviedo.
Zembower said that Seminole has sought alternatives to raising rates, including budget cuts and other revenue sources.
“The last couple years, we’ve actually lived on reserves and [American Rescue Plan Act, passed in 2021] funds,” he said.
In August, Seminole also added a 5-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline sold in the county and raised the public service taxes on water and electricity from 4% to 10%.
A difficult decision
A self-described conservative, Zembower said he feels left out of the tax cutting happening at the state level. “I’ve got no one to cut taxes to,” he said. He said he was proud of his commission for making the hard choice to raise rates rather than cut into the county’s “high quality of life.”
“I don’t know of a single commissioner that wanted to make that decision,” he said.
The new rates should carry the county’s budget “well into the future,” according to Zembower. But he said all of that dissolves if the state decides to eliminate property taxes.
The legislature’s select committee on property taxes did not return requests for comment for this story.
As municipalities wait for the state’s decision, most are operating as if it is business as usual, Mosteller said.
“We don’t actually know what’s going to be proposed," she said. "So at this point, counties are just looking toward their 2026 fiscal year and making sure they’re making the right investments.”