Lee County school board adopts a $3.055 billion budget with a lower 5.271-mill property tax rate

The School Board of Lee County has approved a $3,055,366,436 spending plan for fiscal 2027 and set the district's total property tax rate at 5.271 mills.

WGCU reporter Dayna Harpster reported that the board adopted the budget by a 6-1 vote. The School District of Lee County's announcement supplies the final spending, millage and reserve figures.

The total covers operating, capital, debt service, special revenue and internal service funds. The district says it is $393,578,615, or 11.41 percent, below fiscal 2026 expenditures and ending fund balances of $3,448,945,051.

What the 5.271-mill school rate changes

The fiscal 2026 rate was 5.319 mills. The new rate is 0.048 mill lower.

One mill equals $1 for each $1,000 of taxable value. If a property's taxable value does not change, the rate reduction cuts the school levy by $4.80 per $100,000. That is $14.40 at $300,000 of taxable value and $28.80 at $600,000.

The calculation uses taxable value, not market price. A higher taxable value can offset the rate reduction, so a lower millage rate does not guarantee a lower school tax bill for every property.

Why the district reduced the spending plan

The district attributes the smaller plan to conservative revenue forecasts, administrative reorganization and aligning school funding with enrollment.

Harpster reported that declining enrollment and the end of special funding tied to COVID and hurricanes contributed to a transfer of about $45 million from the reserve fund balance. WGCU also reported 457 position nonrenewals, including 275 teachers.

The district says the budget maintains its required operating reserve policies. It sets aside $30.6 million for contingencies and $7,027,597 for a possible enrollment funding shortfall or proration.

The decision applies across Lee County. It follows a school year in which private scholarship participation in Lee and Collier counties more than doubled over three years. Collier County's fiscal 2027 school budget was considered separately by that county's school board.