County school board OKs tentative $2.4B budget
The Lee County School Board approved a tentative budget of $2.4 billion for the 2023-24 school year during its first public hearing on July 31.
The tentative budget — $2,444,171,374 — breaks down to a General Fund of $1,142,749,696 for operations, 47% of the total budget; and a capital budget of $876,893,895, or 36% of total.
The remaining components include internal services at $189,362,870, 7% of the budget; debt services of $94,744,982, 4%; special revenue food services of $71,772,463, 3%; and special revenue grants of $67,647,468, 3% of the budget total.
The board also approved the tentative proposed required local effort millage of 3.1820 mills. The required local effort millage includes basic required local effort of 3.1640 and a prior period adjustment millage of 0.018.
The tentative proposed basic discretionary millage of 0.748 mills was also approved.
The proposed capital outlay millage of 1.500 was also approved.
The total millage will equal 5.43 mills, or $5.43 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property valuation.
The total millage is higher than the so-called rollback rate, the rate at which the impact on owner-occupied home would remain flat. The increase over the roll back rate is 11.17%.
Budget Director Kelly Letcher explained the millage rollback rate is the rate which applies to the current year’s tax rolls net adjustments for new growth, which will produce the same dollars as received in the previous year.
The calculated roll back rate is 4.8844 mills. The proposed rate for the 2023-24 school year is 5.430 mills, a decrease of 0.127 mills from the 2022-23 millage rate of 5.557 mills.
“The new millage rate will generate an additional $41.9 million from the previous year because of the increase in the tax roll,” Letcher said.
The required local effort portion is 59% of the total millage, she said.
“One of the things we like to point out is the change in the roll back rate from year to year,” Letcher said. “The tax roll this year is $145 billion and the required local effort portion is 3.164. We also have a prior period adjustment 0.018 for a total required local effort of 3.182. We also request that you levy 0.748 discretionary millage and 1.5 capital mills, which is the total 5.430 mills.”
The millage is a negative 0.127 from previous years.
“As the millage rate goes down from year to year, it is because the tax roll goes up. As the tax roll goes up the millage rate will go down,” she said. “We are given the amount for the required local effort from the state and you must levy that in order to participate in the Florida Education Finance Program.”
With the millage rate that the district is proposing, if the tax roll was an 8.34% increase, and it was a $100,000 home, that new value is $108,340. Letcher said at last year’s rate, the homeowner would have paid $555.70 compared to this year’s $588.29, a $32.59 increase in their school tax.
Homestead Exemption and Save our Homes only allows for 3% a year for owner-occupied properties. So a $100,000 home would have a new value of $103,000. Last year’s rate, the homeowner paid $416.78, compared to this year’s $423.54 — a $6.76 increase.
According to the presentation, the required local effort millage of 3.182 would generate $443,197,701 in total.
“While that does generate more than it did last year, the required local effort portion, as that goes up, our state funding goes down in the same amount,” she said. “We will not generate any additional dollars from the required local effort than what the state says we can do through the Florida Education Finance Program.”
The basic discretionary millage of 0.748 would generate $104,183,496. The capital outlay of 1.500 mills would generate $208,924,120. The total millage of 5.430 would raise $756,305,316 from total millage.
The Florida Education Finance Program is $932 million in total revenue, with approximately $42 million of the total anticipated for the Family Empowerment Scholarships. Letcher said it was a $77 million increase from the previous year and $75 million of that is the increase for the teacher salary increase allocation.
She said the district will receive $8,933 per FTE and the base student allocation is $5,139.73, an increase of $552.33. Letcher said they are funded by the state, 42% of the amount.
She said the sources of operating revenues is 60.92% local, 38.59% state and 49% federal.
The second and final budget hearing will be held on Sept. 6 at 5:05 p.m. at the School District of Lee County board room, at 2855 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers.
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