Monroe County School Board members began the 2026-27 budget process by setting a tentative millage rate that, despite being the lowest in more than a decade, would bring more property tax dollars into the district from last year.
At the July 28 meeting in Key West, Charlene White, executive director of finance, presented a draft budget and proposed millage rate. She emphasized that a budget committee started meeting in January and considered factors including declining enrollment, cost of living and uncertainty about property taxes.
The 2026-27 budget proposes $179,920,680 for the general fund, which supports the district’s daily operations. This is $6.5 million or 3.8% more than 2025-26.
The proposed total millage rate to balance this budget would be 2.817, or .13 less than last year. Rounding it up, that comes out to $2.82 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. While it’s the lowest rate set by the school board in at least the last 12 years, the school district would collect a little more than $2 million more in property tax revenue compared to last year. The total assessed tax roll in the district went up about half a percent year to year.
White said the staff would not place newspaper ads informing the public of a proposed tax increase because there is no rate increase. However, individual property owners may see an increase in their tax dollars due to an increase in the value of their property.
The school board will hold a budget workshop at Coral Shores High School on Aug. 25 and TRIM notices will go out to taxpayers on Aug. 24. A final budget hearing will be held at Marathon High School on Sept. 8.
Under Florida’s Truth in Millage (TRIM) Act, every school board’s millage rate in the state has two parts: the required local effort and the discretionary millage. The state Legislature sets the required local effort, the state collects those funds, and then they are redistributed to local school boards in order to provide some standard level of funding for schools.
The local school boards control the discretionary millage rate. They use information from the county property appraiser showing the taxable property values within the school district and compare the revenue raised against the superintendent’s proposed budget in order to develop a balanced budget. Under Florida’s “Save Our Homes” amendment, the annual increase is capped at 3% or the increase in the prior year’s Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. This year, the appraisal value of homesteaded property cannot go up by more than 2.7%.
The 2026-27 budget has mandated increases for teacher salary raises, school safety/security, mental health and retirement, among others. About $4.18 million is for safety and security, to include the salaries of school security officers and costs incurred by the sheriff’s office and Key West police.
Health insurance has been a trouble spot in the budget. Costs exceeded the fees charged. White credited the staff with actions that significantly reduced the amount required to subsidize the district’s health insurance program.
The budget includes a $10 million reserve in a hurricane disaster fund.
Before the budget review session, Superintendent Ed Tierney invited school board members to meet new teachers during workshops beginning Aug. 5. All students report to school on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Harry Russell, executive director of personnel and instructional leadership, said the district hired 264 new employees and only had one unfilled academic teacher position. The district was successful in converting substitute teachers to full-time teaching positions, but the major shortfall is a need for 10 athletic coaches.
