Epomena county brief · Virtuous Cycle LLC · from public records · printed from epomena.vercel.app/county/okaloosa
Okaloosa County
Okaloosa County on one page: where floods have been paid for, how FEMA rates its communities, and what Triumph Gulf Coast has been asked for and awarded there.
Living within its means
Outside money, and what the county owes
- Principal and interest paid$11.0M · FY2025 · source
- Pandemic relief (ARPA) allocated$40.9M · Treasury allocation (May 2021) · one-time · source
- FEMA public assistance to the county government since 2016$10.4M · 2016-2026 (data refreshed 2026-10-24) · federal share obligated · source
- RESTORE Act direct component$30.5M · as of 2026-04-20 · cumulative allocation, one-time · source
From 2027 the commission must show how next year’s budget could be cut by 10%. Against FY2024 spending that is $29.0M, or 14% of everything outside law enforcement, fire and debt service. All eight counties.
37.0% of the cost of the county’s governmental capital assets is already depreciated (FY2025). A rough sign of how old what it owns is, and so of replacement coming due; inferred, not an audited finding.
Revenue by source from EDR tabulations of Department of Financial Services Annual Financial Reports (reported, not audited; retrieved 2026-10-25), governmental funds only, transfers and debt proceeds left out. Debt, assets and one-time money from the county’s audited statements, U.S. Treasury and FEMA, each linked. A high outside share is a fact about the formulas and settlements a county lives on, not a verdict on it. Sources and limits · the series · every finding.
Was on the ballot · 3 November 2026
What the property-tax amendment would take from levies here
The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference estimates that HJR 1-F would cut non-school property-tax revenue in Okaloosa County by $26.5M in FY2027-28, rising to $46.1M a year once fully in place. That is every levy in the county together (the county commission, its cities and its special districts), before any of them responds.
What the amendment changes · Florida Revenue Estimating Conference, ad valorem impact of HJR 1-F, 10 July 2026 (county tables at pages 682–686)
Flood record
Flood-insurance claims and policies
Most claims came from Hurricane Opal (2,858), Hurricane Ivan (2,465), Hurricane Dennis (625).
FEMA Community Rating System
How FEMA rates each community's floodplain management
| Community | Class (1 best, 10 none) | Discount in the 1% zone |
|---|---|---|
| Town of Cinco Bayou | In the NFIP, not in CRS | — |
| City of Crestview | In the NFIP, not in CRS | — |
| City of Destin | 6 | 20% |
| City of Fort Walton Beach | 6 | 20% |
| City of Laurel Hill | In the NFIP, not in CRS | — |
| City of Mary Esther | 6 | 20% |
| City of Niceville | 6 | 20% |
| Okaloosa County | 5 | 25% |
| Town of Shalimar | 8 | 10% |
| City of Valparaiso | 10 | — |
Health, modelled
CDC estimates for adults in the county
| Measure | Okaloosa | 95% interval | Middle of the eight counties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current lack of health insurance (ages 18–64) | 11.7% | 9.5–14.4% | 12.4% |
| High blood pressure | 32.7% | 29.5–36.4% | 37.5% |
| Current asthma | 9.6% | 8.5–10.8% | 9.9% |
| Coronary heart disease | 6.1% | 5.3–7.0% | 7.3% |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 6.6% | 5.4–7.8% | 7.8% |
| Depression | 19.1% | 16.5–22.3% | 19.2% |
| Diagnosed diabetes | 10.8% | 9.3–12.5% | 12.4% |
| No leisure-time physical activity | 22.8% | 19.1–27.4% | 25.7% |
| Frequent mental distress | 17.4% | 15.3–19.7% | 17.3% |
| Mobility disability | 12.3% | 10.3–14.5% | 14.5% |
CDC PLACES, 2025 release (2023 estimates): modelled from national surveys, not counted locally. A difference from the middle figure means little when this county’s interval covers it.
Triumph Gulf Coast
9 awards from 55 proposals
Where the 55 proposals ended up: 9 awarded, 5 applied, not awarded, 6 found not eligible, 7 withdrawn, 28 pre-application only.
| # | Project | Award, as amended | Preliminary scorecard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Southwest Crestview Bypass Okaloosa County | $64.1M | 4 yes, 1 no |
| 270 | Nursing Program Expansion Northwest Florida State College | $21.8M | 4 yes |
| 356 | Project Opal Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners | $16.8M | 4 yes, 2 partly, 1 no |
| 326 | Okaloosa Tech College North Campus Creation Okaloosa County School District | $7.8M | 3 yes, 1 partly |
| 216 | Airframe & Powerplant Northwest Florida State College | $7.1M | 4 yes |
| 243 | Artificial Intelligence Learning Institutes Okaloosa Co School District | $2.8M | 3 yes, 1 not known |
| 43 | Hwy 90 East Water and Sewer Expansion Okaloosa County | $1.5M | 3 yes, 2 no |
| 271 | Health Academy of Northwest Florida Okaloosa County School District | $1.3M | 4 yes |
| 222 | Hurricane Michael Skilled Labor Recovery Fund Okaloosa Technical College | $200K | 3 yes, 1 partly |