Commissioner Knight proposes range of 2% to 2.3%
With plans already in place to launch their budget planning for the 2028 fiscal year in February 2027 — mirroring their workshop timeline for this year — Commissioner Tom Knight on Sept. 8 proposed a 2.3% maximum increase in spending for the county’s departments and for the constitutional officers, such as the sheriff and the supervisor of elections.
During the board’s regular meeting on Aug. 25, Commissioner Teresa Mast won agreement of her colleagues when she proposed the February 2027 budget workshop start.
As he did in February, Knight noted during the commission’s regular meeting this week that he would find it helpful to have the constitutional officers present at that February 2027 workshop to “talk to us.”
However, he added, “We really never came up with a target number” for a cap on the increase the FY 2028 budget, to provide them.
“I think that we need a starting point,” he continued, though he acknowledged, “I don’t know what everybody else’s thoughts are.”
Perhaps he and his colleagues could discuss that briefly that day, he added.
For this fiscal year, the commissioners agreed during their August 2025 budget workshop to limit the increase to 1.6% for the county’s General Fund, which is the repository of the majority of the property tax revenue that the county receives. The General Fund pays the expenses of county departments and the constitutional officers’ operations that do not generate any revenue or insufficient revenue to pay their bills.
A few of the constitutional officers had asked him about the limit for FY 2028, Knight told his colleagues on Sept. 8.
With a target set, Knight pointed out, if it is not reached, representatives of the affected department of constitutional office can try to justify a higher increase.
Then Knight indicated that he had been pursuing a lot of reading about issues lately. “I think one of our biggest conversations right now in our nation is affordability,” he said.
Earlier that day, in discussing ongoing county staff efforts to negotiate a price for the Gulf Gate Golf Course — to serve as the site of a “legacy stormwater project” — Knight noted that Commissioner Mast had mentioned the need for the Gulf Gate residents to know how much they might be assessed annually if the board members ultimately established a special taxing district to help pay for the land. (See the related article in this issue.)
“And so we need to kind of let our community know we’re aware … of [the affordability issue],” Knight said.
Then he proposed a cap of 2% to 2.3% for the county budget for FY 2028 — not just the General Fund.
“There’s a lot of inflation in our nation,” Knight noted. “We see the federal deficit going up. We hear people complaining about the cost of living and everything.”
Based on what he had been reading, he continued, “I think 2.3[%] is reachable for people who are really conservatives and who really want to work hard.”
Since he joined the board in November 2024, Knight has complained during past budget discussions that even though all of the constitutional officers are registered Republicans, they have not appeared to be as determined to keep spending down as members of that party traditionally have.
“I definitely like the idea,” Chair Ron Cutsinger responded to Knight’s proposal. Last year, Cutsinger said, “I thought it was a great idea to set a target.”
However, he explained, he is concerned about the outcome of the state referendum on Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot. If at least 60% of the voters who address that question statewide agree to the amendment to the Florida Constitution, the homestead exemption for property taxes, except those designated for school districts, will rise to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028.
The county would lose an estimated $46.8 million in property tax revenue in the 2028 fiscal year, financial management staff has reported. The loss in the 2029 fiscal year would be close to $90 million.
During the board’s final budget workshop for the 2027 fiscal year, which was conducted on Aug. 21, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis explained that the General Fund would not be the only “pot” of county money affected if the referendum passes. Many other county services — including the Emergency Medical Services Division — receive their funding through the revenue generated by property tax millage rates.
‘A more informed choice’
If Amendment 3 is approved, Cutsinger continued on Sept. 8, the 2.3% increase “would be fanciful …”
He suggested that the board members wait until they conduct their annual retreat in December, when they discuss their strategic planning goals for the next year, to decide on the target budget cap for FY 2028. Knowing the outcome of the Nov. 3 referendum, he added, is “gonna allow us to make a … more informed choice.”
Knight agreed with Cutsinger’s point about the referendum and about the discussion during the retreat.
Then Knight pointed out, “I think that, with so many people that we fund out of our checkbook … it’s good that we’re at least messaging [another limit on budget increases]. If Amendment 3 … fails, that certainly is going to put some guardrails up for us … that we want to hold ourselves to as elected officials in this county,” he added.
In the meantime, Knight said, perhaps the commissioners informally can let the constitutional officers know that they are thinking of a low rate of increase.
County Administrator Jonathan Lewis then told the commissioners, “Certainly, the retreat is an appropriate time for the board to give direction.” Nonetheless, he continued, he already had let county staff know that, with any operation or department that depends on property tax revenue, the target for an increase in the FY 2028 budget is 1.6%, as it was for the 2027 fiscal year budget.
If the board waits until December, he explained, that does not give him much time to work on department budgets and other county financial issues before the first budget workshop in February 2027.
For FY 2027, Lewis pointed out, staff beat the 1.6% figure on operations tied to property tax revenue.
“Without objection [from the board],” he continued, “that is kind of how I’ve already directed my staff on the General Fund side … Of course, November could change everything. One point six [percent] would be too high …”
“I agree with that,” Knight responded. “I think we need to include all the departments this year …”
When Lewis is talking with the constitutional officers, Knight added, perhaps Lewis could let them know that the board will have its target number after the December retreat. “I think it’s important to everybody that we work with,” Knight added.