SPECIAL FY26 PUBLIC BUDGET MEETING TO BE HELD TUESDAY, JULY 15 AT 3 P.M. IN MARATHON; HYBRID

​MONROE COUNTY, FL – Monroe County will hold a special public budget meeting on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, at 3 p.m. at the Marathon Government Center. During this meeting, Assistant Budget Director John Quinn will present the recommended Fiscal Year 2026 budget to the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners, who will certify the proposed millage rate to the Property Appraiser, establishing the rate that will appear on residents’ TRIM notices. The agenda, detailed budget letter, and meeting information can be found at www.monroecounty-fl.gov/meetings.
 
Key topics covered in the recommended FY2026 budget and discussion include:

• Proposed $678.5 million Fiscal Year 2026 budget that begins Oct. 1, 2025, which is a decrease of $37 million from FY25.
• State and Federal decreases in revenue, including trends of local sales and bed taxes declining.
• Monroe County’s proposed millage rate, typically the lowest in Florida, to minimize property tax impacts on residents
• Major investments in public safety
• Measures to improve government efficiency, being guided by the State Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through departmental consolidations and mergers, staff reductions, and cuts to non-core services.
• Discussion about building emergency and disaster reserves in preparation for potential changes to federal disaster assistance programs.
• Focus on maintaining existing county infrastructure.

  
“We’ve developed a tiered plan to reduce expenses, closely tied to thoroughly reviewing our commitment to fiscal responsibility, protecting core services, and preparing Monroe County for future challenges,” said Monroe County Administrator Christine Hurley.
 
Core services are those fundamental to a safe and functioning county, such as public safety, roads, building safety, solid waste, emergency response, and environmental protection, and are usually non-negotiable. These differ from quality-of-life services, such as parks and beaches, recreational services, libraries, and nonprofit funding.
 
“While the county values quality of life programs, in times of constrained revenues, local governments must first ensure that essential services are preserved first,” said Hurley. “We need to focus on sustaining what works, pausing what doesn’t, and staying flexible.”
 
The proposed budget includes tier 1 and 2 reductions in spending:

• Tier 1 (anticipated a moderate revenue decline and we were able to plan for cutting $10.6 million in operating and vacancy savings),
• Tier 2 (anticipated a greater revenue loss and we were able to plan for cutting $13.6 million in operating, vacancy savings (17 positions), a 50 percent cut to outside agency funding, and approximately 20 occupied positions), and
• Tier 3 (anticipated a deeper impact with a plan for cutting and additional $4.4 million for a total of $18M in operating, vacancy savings (17 positions), a 100 percent cut to outside agency funding, and approximately 23 additional occupied positions for a total of 17 vacancy cuts and 43 occupied positions.

 
Commissioners will discuss Tier 3 reductions to apply the savings to emergency reserves, or they may increase the countywide millage rate to generate additional revenue for the reserves, or pursue a combination of both approaches, which could contribute up to $8 million. Emergency reserves are currently $10 million, but the federal government has been messaging that they may play a lesser role in disaster response and FEMA assistance.  Therefore, staff are recommending increasing emergency reserves.
 
“This year’s cost reduction scenarios include eliminating occupied positions, which is something that weighs heavily on all of us,” said Hurley. “We are grateful to the employees whose positions are impacted, who have served Monroe County with professionalism and dedication, and this decision to eliminate positions is in no way a reflection of their performance. This decision was not made lightly. Every option was considered, and we worked tirelessly to explore ways to minimize the impact while fulfilling our obligation to provide critical services to the community within our budget.”
 
Staff will continue to monitor the budget process throughout the summer and review several additional items that could impact the budget before its final adoption in September.
 
Following the special budget meeting in July, the first and final budget hearings will be held Sept. 3 in Key West and Sept. 10 in Key Largo, both at 5:05 p.m.

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