Monroe County proposes $695.7 million budget, sets hearing dates
Monroe County’s $695.7 million budget would keep the countywide tax rate flat, but a higher aggregate levy and spending shifts mean some homeowners will still pay more.
Monroe County commissioners on Tuesday in Marathon laid out a $695,755,099 Fiscal Year 2027 budget that would keep the countywide tax rate at 2.6929 while raising the aggregate millage to 3.4054. For a homesteaded homeowner with an average appraised taxable value of $665,485, that translates to about $4.22 more a month in countywide property tax.
The proposed spending plan, which begins Oct. 1, would cover the Board of County Commissioners, constitutional officers, the Tourist Development Council, capital projects and reserves. It is $23,687,225 higher than the $672,067,874 budget adopted for FY26, and much of the increase is tied to the Tourist Development Council’s use of accrued fund balance for community investment, capital projects, events and advertising.
County Administrator Christine Hurley, Assistant Administrator Tina Boan and Director of Management and Budget John Quinn presented the budget to commissioners in Marathon. The county's budget principles center on fiscal sustainability, safeguarding core services, prioritizing public safety, transparency, efficiency, planning for economic uncertainty, building reserves, shifting some services to fee-based funding where appropriate and making room for cost-of-living adjustments for staff.
The budget continues compensation increases for fire, EMS and law enforcement personnel, and it funds replacement fire apparatus, an ambulance remount and EMS equipment. It also includes maintenance and improvement work at the Monroe County Detention Center. The TDC's spending plan includes money set aside for events, advertising and capital work.
Holding the aggregate millage rate at the FY26 level of 3.3567 would require $2,588,088 in cuts. The countywide millage would remain 2.6929. Monroe has about 84,000 residents and a functional population of roughly 4 million visitors a year.
The FY26 plan added $2 million to emergency-disaster reserves, bringing them to $12 million, and the FY25 budget reached $715.7 million.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
