The 10% budget exercise
From 1 January 2027 every Florida county commission must hold a budget workshop that identifies “strategies to potentially reduce the ensuing fiscal year budget by 10 percent” without compromising “essential public services, such as law enforcement or fire services, or legal obligations”, and post it at least 14 days before the budget is adopted. Here is what 10% looks like in each county, against what it last spent.
Where 10% would have to come from
Set aside only what the law names, law enforcement and fire, plus debt service, and a 10% cut has to come from everything else. In Wakulla County that means 16% of the rest of its FY2025 spending, $6.5M in all.
| County | Year | Spent | 10% of it | Law enforcement, fire and debt service | 10% as a share of the rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakulla | FY2025 | $65.4M | $6.5M | $23.9M (37%) | 16% |
| Santa Rosa | FY2024 | $227.8M | $22.8M | $80.1M (35%) | 15% |
| Okaloosa | FY2024 | $289.5M | $29.0M | $87.3M (30%) | 14% |
| Franklin | FY2024 | $40.7M | $4.1M | $11.2M (27%) | 14% |
| Walton | FY2025 | $288.4M | $28.8M | $66.5M (23%) | 13% |
| Escambia | FY2025 | $604.2M | $60.4M | $138.4M (23%) | 13% |
| Gulf | FY2024 | $52.4M | $5.2M | $8.3M (16%) | 12% |
| Bay | FY2024 | $464.7M | $46.5M | $66.9M (14%) | 12% |
- The law names examples, not a list. Jails, ambulance, emergency management and court mandates may also count as essential or as legal obligations, and they are left in “the rest” here. So the last column is the least a cut elsewhere would take, not the most.
- Spending, not budgets. These are actual governmental-fund outlays reported after each year closed, not the budget the law asks counties to cut. Utilities and other enterprise funds are not included, and transfers between funds are left out so nothing is counted twice.
- Debt service is account 517 in the state’s tabulation. Walton, Bay, Franklin and Wakulla book little or none there although their audited statements show debt, so their set-aside is understated and their last column overstated.
- Source: EDR county expenditure tabulations by account code, compiled from DFS Annual Financial Reports, retrieved 2026-10-25. The law: ch. 2026-161, Laws of Florida, amending s. 129.03(3), F.S.; the same duty applies to cities under s. 166.241. The figures.
Fiscal year 2026-27
This year's tax rates against the new ceiling
The rolled-back rate is the millage that would raise the same property tax from the same properties as last year. Under ch. 2026-240, in force since June, a commission can adopt up to that rate by a simple majority; above it needs two-thirds of the board, and more than 10% above it needs every member or a referendum. A second June act words the rule differently, so the vote shown is the stricter reading. Six of the eight counties set their operating rate above the rolled-back rate this September, counting Bay by the rate it put to its final hearing. Franklin went more than 10% above it; the minutes record 5–0.
| County | Rolled-back | Adopted | Against rolled-back | Vote the new test asks for | Vote recorded | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Escambia | 6.3807 | 6.5710 | +3.0% | two-thirds | not found | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Santa Rosa | 3.7727 | 3.8850 | +3.0% | two-thirds | not found | 1, 2, 3 |
| Okaloosa | 3.7941 | 3.8308 | +1.0% | two-thirds | not found | 1, 2, 3 |
| Walton | 3.4347 | 3.2500 | −5.4% | majority | 4–1 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Bay | 5.2618 | Not found proposed final 5.4362 | +3.3% | two-thirds | not found | 1, 2, 3 |
| Gulf | 5.2847 | 5.5000 | +4.1% | two-thirds | 5–0 | 1, 2, 3 |
| Franklin | 4.7994 | 5.4109 | +12.7% | unanimous or referendum | 5–0 | 1, 2 |
| Wakulla | 7.8216 | 7.7000 | −1.6% | majority | 5–0 | 1, 2 |
- What is counted. Each county commission's countywide operating millage, in mills ($ per $1,000 of taxable value). Municipal service taxing units, dependent fire and mosquito districts, and school levies are excluded.
- Above rolled-back is not necessarily a higher rate. It means more tax from property already on the roll, because values rose. A rate at or below rolled-back still raises more money when new buildings are added.
- The law. Ch. 2026-240, Laws of Florida, s. 200.065(5)(a), F.S.: a majority vote may adopt up to the rolled-back rate; up to 110% of it needs two-thirds of the board; above 110% needs a unanimous vote or a referendum. Ch. 2026-240. Ch. 2026-239, s. 23, approved five days later, re-enacts the same paragraph in its earlier wording; ch. 2026-240, s. 8, says the two are to be read together. The 2026 DOR disclosure forms filed by Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Gulf apply the ch. 2026-240 test. Ch. 2026-239. Under the earlier wording the majority ceiling is the rolled-back rate adjusted for growth in per capita personal income, normally higher, so the vote shown is the stricter of the two readings.
- What each record is.
- Escambia: Resolutions as presented and the adopted budget book; no executed final resolution or DR-420 found; final-hearing minutes not yet posted.
- Santa Rosa: Final resolution as presented, the county's DR-420MM-P and the property appraiser's 2026 table; no executed resolution found.
- Okaloosa: DR-420, DR-420MM-P and the approved budget book; the resolution states only the aggregate rate.
- Walton: Rolled-back rate from workshop minutes quoting the finance director, not a DR-420; adopted rate and vote from the final-hearing minutes (draft).
- Bay: Rolled-back and proposed final rates from the hearing resolutions; no adoption record found.
- Gulf: DR-420, DR-420MM final disclosure and the adopted budget.
- Franklin: Hearing minutes that reproduce the resolutions; no DR-420 seen.
- Wakulla: Hearing minutes; one rate is given for the county.
- Sources. County hearing packets, minutes, budget books and DR-420 forms, read on 2026-10-30; the state has not yet published this year’s rates. Each numbered link is a source document. Where a count shows “not found”, the record did not give it, not that no vote was taken. The figures.