Seminole County adopts 0.5 mill increase, unveils SCOUT transit, Tourism Improvement District

Seminole County commissioners adopted a 0.50 mill increase to the countywide millage, moving the levy from 4.8751 to 5.3751 for Fiscal Year 2025-26 as part of a budget the county describes as roughly $1.2 billion. The county’s certified assessment roll for tax year 2025 is $57,409,983,507.00, and the county’s table shows the value of a mill at $55.1 million for FY26.

County budget documents record the formal procedure: the Board held public hearings on the tentative millage and budget on September 10, 2025 and fixed the final millage and approved the budget on September 23, 2025. The adopted resolution includes specific levy language for the transportation district: “It is hereby determined and declared that a tax of $0.1107 per $1,000 valuation be levied, assessed and imposed for the tax year 2025 on all taxable property lying within the boundaries of the Transportation District in Seminole County on the first day of January, 2025, for the purpose of meeting the current expenses as estimated in the budget.” The resolution also states the levy “is the same rate imposed for tax year 2025 and is 5.43% more than the current year rolled back millage rate of 2.6226 mills.”

Spending priorities outlined by county leaders and local reporting show nearly 75 percent of the county budget directed to public safety functions including law enforcement, the county jail, fire and emergency medical services, with transportation and the courts following and parks and libraries receiving the smallest shares. Chairman Andria Herr emphasized the approach to revenue changes: “We made careful adjustments to ensure that essential services remain reliable and sustainable, including modest updates to local taxes that had not been touched in 16 years. These adjustments were spread across multiple revenue sources to avoid placing the burden solely on property owners.” Herr also said, “Our priority is making sure we keep taxes low. It was a difficult year last year, and our budget process has already started to make sure we are looking for every opportunity to save, become more efficient, expand services but not expand cost.”

The county is using several new revenue tools in FY25-26. A countywide Tourism Improvement District was created to support sports tourism and fund a new indoor sports complex; Chairman Herr said, “Seminole County is proud to be the first countywide TID in the state of Florida, made possible by the local hoteliers who chose to invest in themselves and in our community by taxing their own industry to help us fund a new indoor sports complex for our community.” MyNews13 reports the TID hotel tax has collected $2 million since April. Separately, a recent gas tax increase is projected to add about $6 million a year in revenue.

On transportation, the county has launched a new public transit system called SCOUT and maintains the Roads MSTU levy at $0.1107 per $1,000 valuation for properties in the Unincorporated Transportation District. County leaders list transportation among the top non-public safety budget priorities as they roll out SCOUT service.

Seminole officials say they are also monitoring state-level discussions in Tallahassee about property tax reform. Seminole County Property Appraiser David Johnson told local television, “I can tell you, that is not going to happen. It just physically cannot happen, and I think the folks in Tallahassee are coming to that conclusion,” in reference to proposals to eliminate property taxes. Johnson’s analysis warns that outright elimination could cost Seminole County 15 to 20 percent of general fund dollars, although he said he does not expect elimination to occur and that “other tweaks are possible.”

Public-facing reporting shows a different post-increase comparative figure: ClickOrlando reported a 15.3177 rate for Seminole County after the 0.50 mill increase and compared it to Lake, Volusia, Orange and Brevard counties. County documents list the official countywide millage as 5.3751; the available material does not provide a full reconciliation showing how a 5.3751 countywide rate maps to a 15.3177 total effective rate that would include overlapping districts. Fiscal Year 2025-26 runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026.