The Flagler County School Board unanimously approved its final budget and tax rate for the 2025-26 school year during a public hearing Tuesday evening, setting what officials say is the district’s lowest millage rate in more than two decades.
The board adopted a total budget of $338,224,969 and approved two resolutions during the September 9th meeting. Board members Lauren Ramirez, Janie Ruddy, Derek Barrs, Christy Chong, and Chairman Will Furry were all present, along with Superintendent Lashaka Moore.
Finance Director Patty Warmarmac presented the budget details, explaining this was the third such meeting in two months following previous presentations in July. “This presentation is again a mirror presentation of what we did in July twice,” Warmarmac told board members.
The district’s main operating fund, known as the general fund, is projected to end the 2025-26 school year with a balance of about $7.6 million. This represents a decrease from the current year’s projected ending balance of $9 million. Warmarmac noted that “the budget is a very fluid document” and said final numbers would likely exceed the $9 million projection when the annual financial report is completed.
A significant portion of the presentation focused on family empowerment scholarships, which have dramatically impacted the district’s funding. “In 2020, legislation changed the rules of scholarships, and you can see the drastically increasing impact on the Flagler school district,” Warmarmac explained. For the upcoming school year, the state projects 1,926 students will receive these scholarships, totaling $17 million. Warmarmac emphasized this impact extends beyond Flagler County, calling it “a statewide impact of these scholarship funds.”
The district’s debt service situation showed improvement following recent refinancing efforts. Chairman Furry highlighted this achievement during the meeting, asking about savings from the most recent refinancing of the district’s COPS debt. “Seven hundred thousand dollars,” Warmarmac responded, referring to the annual savings achieved through the refinancing.
The COPS debt originated in 2005 when the district built Rymfire Elementary and Matanzas High School. It was previously refinanced in 2014 and again in 2024. Warmarmac explained that a portion of this debt service is paid through impact fees, which are allowed to be used for debt service when expanding student capacity.
Capital projects funding comes from multiple sources, including the district’s 1.5 mill tax, PICO funds, capital outlay and debt service funds, and other capital project funds supported by impact fees and half-cent sales tax revenue. However, Warmarmac noted that legislative changes have required the district to share a portion of its 1.5 mill revenue with charter schools. “The first year was 20 percent of what they would get based on their pro rata portion, and then 40 percent, and this is the third year, and we are up to 60 percent,” she explained. “So in three years they will get their full 100 percent, and it will be several million dollars.”
The district also operates as self-insured for health benefits, with premium revenue from the board and employees funding the majority of insurance claims and administrative expenses.
Student enrollment has shown slight increases in recent years, though Warmarmac cautioned that enrollment figures include family empowerment scholarship students, with numbers provided directly by the state Department of Education that aren’t adjusted until later in the year.
One of the most significant points Warmarmac emphasized concerned the district’s property tax situation. Despite Flagler County’s coastal location and rising property values, she explained, this doesn’t benefit the school district as many assume. “Our property value revenue has an inverse relationship with the state revenues that we get from DOE. So as our property values go up, our state funding goes down,” she said.
The funding formula has completely flipped over time. “We used to be funded at more than 50 percent for the FFP and less than 50 percent for property taxes. It is now completely flipped,” Warmarmac noted.
She made what she called “the most important statement that the public should be aware of,” explaining that “we are the only taxing municipality that cannot set our own millage. That is set by DOE and given to us. We have no control over that at the local level.”
The millage rate breakdown includes several components: a required local effort rate of 3.1010 mills, discretionary operating millage of 1.5 mills, and local capital improvements millage of 0.7480 mills. The total millage rate exceeds the rollback rate by 2.82 percent.
During the formal proceedings, Chairman Furry read both resolutions in their entirety before the board voted. Resolution 25/26-03 established the final millage rates, while Resolution 25/26-04 adopted the complete budget. Both resolutions passed unanimously with no discussion.
The meeting included two opportunities for public comment, but no citizens signed up to speak during either session.
The meeting concluded with Superintendent Moore noting it was the 21st day of the school year. No board members offered additional comments before Chairman Furry adjourned the session.
The adopted budget covers all district operations, including salaries and benefits, which typically account for more than 80 percent of general fund expenditures, as well as contracted services, capital improvements, debt service, and various grant-funded programs.
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