St. Johns County Discusses Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and Millage Rates
On July 16, 2024, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) approved two motions about the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget (FY 2025 Budget). The first motion approved the proposed flat millage rates. The BOCC passed the second motion to authorize the completion and execution of the FY 2025 Budget with approved proposed millage rates and establish Sept. 3, 2024, at 5:01 p.m. as the First Public Hearing for adopting the FY 2025 Budget.
The recommended FY 2025 Budget is $1.2 billion. This includes the General Fund for essential County services and programs, the Capital Improvements Fund for major construction projects like roads and parks, and other funds designated for specific uses.
“Today, I am honored to present you the 2025 budget recommendation for St. Johns County,” County Administrator Joy Andrews said. “This budget reflects our commitment to fulfilling the promises we made to our residents, staff, and partners while positioning our County for continued success. The leadership and vision of our Board of County Commissioners have guided us in focusing on these key priorities: Infrastructure, Managing Growth, Open Governance & Transparency, Conservation, and Financial Stewardship.”
Andrews shared significant achievements in 2024, which included the County Road 210 widening (Cimarron to Greenbrier, and East of I-95), $9.6 million State allocation for the Airport Authority, an ongoing robust, publicly informed process for Comprehensive Plan 2050, a draft five-year Strategic Plan, increased Land Acquisition Management Plan funding from $500,000 to $2 million for conservation, and a bonding program for public safety, parks, and libraries.
“This budget recommendation maintains our focus on essential services and introduces strategic investments that will benefit our community for years to come, primarily in roads, water, parks, libraries, public safety, and in our staff,” Andrews said. “These long-term investments are proposed based on your methodical deliberation over the past few months and the bold decisions you are making to move us forward.”
The proposed millage rates include no increase from last year. The County plans to use the revenue generated from taxable value growth for FY 2025 over FY 2024 to help pay for additional expenses and new programs. Andrews emphasized that her budget recommendation represents a goal of a healthier reserve fund by adding 15% to be adequately prepared for an active hurricane season.
The 13.2% increase in taxable values results in $40.8 million in incremental property taxes for the County.
“Taxpayers need to understand, particularly homeowners, that Florida’s Save Our Homes provision protects homestead properties from the full percentage increase in assessed value,” Office of Management and Budget Director Jesse Dunn said. “At the proposed flat millage rates, homestead property will experience an approximate 3% increase over last year. About two-thirds of our St. Johns County residential parcels are protected by the Save Our Homes program.”
Dunn shared that a non-homestead property is capped at a 10% increase annually.
Details on the proposed budget, videos of the workshop sessions, and more are available at www.sjcfl.us/2025budget. On the webpage, the public can view the Fiscal Year 2025 Recommended Budget Workbook, which is broken down into the following sections:
- The Budget Summaries Section provides basic information, including personnel requests, capital equipment, and vehicles.
- The Budget by Fund Accounting overviews the $1,215,721,492 Fiscal Year 2025 Recommended Budget.
- The Budget by Service Area provides line-item details for each County government service area.
- The Capital Improvement Plan provides an overview of major capital improvement projects identified (funded or unfunded).
The Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices will be mailed to each property taxpayer. These will include the proposed millage rates, the estimated taxes a taxpayer could pay, and information on the first public hearing. Once adopted, the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget begins on Oct. 1, 2024.