Walton County

Walton 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

Outside money, FY2025

13.3%

3.5% federal · 9.9% state, of which 7.3% is formula revenue

Property tax

42.4%

share of operating revenue

Operating revenue

$355.7M

governmental funds, before transfers

Debt outstanding

$10.7M

bonds and notes, FY2025 · 1.0% of revenue went to principal and interest

Outside money as a share of the county government’s operating revenue, FY2015–FY2025: federal and state grants (light) with state formula revenue (dark) inside it.

Principal and interest paid$3.7M · FY2025 · source
Pandemic relief (ARPA) allocated$14.4M · Treasury allocation (May 2021) · one-time · source
FEMA public assistance to the county government since 2016$1.8M · 2016-2026 (data refreshed 2026-10-24) · federal share obligated · source
RESTORE Act direct component$27.4M · 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 FY2025 spending that is $28.8M, or 13% of everything outside law enforcement, fire and debt service. All eight counties.

39.4% 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 Walton County by $14.0M in FY2027-28, rising to $51.9M 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

Federal flood insurance is authorized only through 11 December 2026.If Congress lets it lapse, as it did from 1 October to 12 November 2025, no new National Flood Insurance Program policies can be written, which can hold up home sales that need flood cover. Policies already in force run to the end of their term. The law · what a lapse does · FEMA’s status page.

Claims paid

1,919

1,255 more closed without payment

Paid, not adjusted for inflation

$68.4M

Repeat-loss properties

298

40 severe · 4 mitigated

Homes insured against flood

20.4%

70.3% inside FEMA's 1% flood zone

Most claims came from Hurricane Opal (930), Hurricane Ivan (616), Hurricane Dennis (346).

Every county and tract The map

FEMA Community Rating System

How FEMA rates each community's floodplain management

Community	Class (1 best, 10 none)	Discount in the 1% zone
City of DeFuniak Springs	In the NFIP, not in CRS	—
City of Freeport	In the NFIP, not in CRS	—
Town of Paxton	In the NFIP, not in CRS	—
Walton County	6	20%

Health, modelled

CDC estimates for adults in the county

Measure	Walton	95% interval	Middle of the eight counties
Current lack of health insurance (ages 18–64)	11.4%	8.9–14.0%	12.4%
High blood pressure	36.3%	32.8–40.0%	37.5%
Current asthma	9.5%	8.4–10.7%	9.9%
Coronary heart disease	7.4%	6.4–8.5%	7.3%
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	7.7%	6.4–9.4%	7.8%
Depression	18.7%	16.1–21.6%	19.2%
Diagnosed diabetes	12.3%	10.6–14.3%	12.4%
No leisure-time physical activity	22.0%	18.4–26.1%	25.7%
Frequent mental distress	16.4%	14.4–18.5%	17.3%
Mobility disability	14.3%	12.0–16.8%	14.5%

Triumph Gulf Coast

8 awards from 38 proposals

Awarded, as Triumph reports it

$44.7M

Reserved share: $37.4M

Paid out, 2019–2025

$12.1M

Where the 38 proposals ended up: 8 awarded, 2 under review, 4 applied, not awarded, 9 found not eligible, 2 withdrawn, 13 pre-application only.

#	Project	Award, as amended	Preliminary scorecard
324	Public Safety Communications System Walton BOCC	$20.2M	2 yes, 1 partly, 1 no
341	Dream Big Walton County The Seaside School, Inc.	$9.6M	3 yes, 1 partly
284	Center for Emerging Professional Technologies in Aviation City of DeFuniak Springs	$4.2M	3 yes, 3 partly, 1 not known
230	IT and Healthcare Certification Program Walton County School District	$3.8M	3 yes, 1 partly
187	Walton Works Training Center of Excellence Northwest Florida State College	$2.9M	3 yes, 1 no, 1 not known
98	Vocational/Technical Training Program Walton County Sheriff	$2.1M	2 yes, 2 no, 1 not known
190	US 331 Infrastructure Walton Economic Development Alliance	$1.7M	1 yes, 1 partly, 1 no, 2 not known
223	Hurricane Michael Skilled Labor Recovery Fund Emerald Coast Technical College	$200K	3 yes, 1 partly

Walton in the grant database