Lee County budget approved
On Sept. 21, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved a $2.3 billion budget, which increases the total budget by 10 percent while offsetting spending increases by utilizing reserves and rising property values to bring the county’s millage rate equal to the rollback rate.
The countywide millage rate was lowered from 4.0506 mills to the rolled-back rate of 3.8623 mills per thousand dollars of assessed property value.
The $2.3 billion budget includes $613.4 million in reserves, which is down 7.9 percent from the 2020-21 budget. The 2020-21 budget listed $666.2 million in reserves.
The budget includes a 4 percent pay raise for county employees, $228 million in capital improvements and replenishes the Conservation 20/20 fund by $7 million.
The capital projects budget is 51 percent more than last year.
The total operating and capital budget was increased by 16.95 percent from $1 million to $1.17 million. The remainder of the budget includes reserves, debt service, internal transfers and insurance costs.
Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said that he hopes county staff enjoy the 4 percent raise though “they deserve more. Hopefully, they are going to appreciate that.”
Lee County Manager Roger Desjarlais said, “This is the first budget that I have ever presented to a board, and based on all of your policy and all the work you have done, which allowed us to get back to rollback rate.”
To reach NATHAN MAYBERG / nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com, please email