OCALA, Fl (352today.com) – The Marion County Board of County Commissioners held the first of two public hearings to consider adoption of the tentative millage rates and budgets for the fiscal year 2025-2026 on Sept. 4, 2025.

The tentative millage rates and budgets were adopted by resolution unanimously.

A capacity filled crowd was on-hand, with a steady stream of people voicing their concerns and in some cases their displeasure with the raise in property taxes and fees for and the lack of services they receive, with a number of these people living on fixed incomes. The audience at times was disruptive, where the commission had to go into recess at one point because those in attendance were not following the proper protocol.

The county commission is required to hold the public hearings according to Florida Statutes prior to the adoption of the budget and the millage rate by the taxing authority.

The items that were under consideration by the county commission on Sept. 4, 2025.

• Tentative Countywide Budget in the amount of $1,119,303,974
• Non-Countywide entities in the amount of $537,566,254 for a total tentative Marion County budget of $1,656,870,228

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners are the policy makers for the county, and they approve the actual county budget, work in concert with the county’s constitutional officers at the beginning of the budget of the year to set expectations when those are turned into the commission. The commissioners will have the final vote on setting the budget for the county on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.

The total countywide tentative millage rate remained at 4.29 mills.

The reduction from the June proposed budget for the millage rate was .6 mills, or $16,524,113, that was cut from expenses from the June proposed budget to Sept. 4, and that was just expenses related to the millage portion that the county eliminated, said Audrey Fowler, Marion County Clerk of Court and Comptroller budget director. In addition to that total, the county lost $1,331,000 in state shared Half Cent Sales Tax because of the exemptions that were granted by the State of Florida, with that amount of money being cut from expenses to remain neutral.

Many people are under the impression that ad valorem taxes completely fund the budget, but there are multiple revenue streams that play a role in funding the county’s budget annually. Property taxes aren’t the sole funding source of what the county commission needs to set the budget and run county operations, when it’s just a portion of the revenue that’s necessary.

The revenue source is about 15% for ad valorem or property taxes for the county budget. Some of the other revenue streams include countywide special assessments, intergovernmental revenue, which is grants that the county receives, particularly those from Housing and Urban Development and the Community Home Investment Program from the federal government, fine and forfeiture which is related to criminal justice. Balances forward makes up about 3% of the budget, when you have your amended budget, and that’s the available cash flow, it’s not newly generated money, it’s money from prior years that makes up the county’s fund balance, and it’s also committed to multi-year capital projects, and that includes the infrastructure surtax, which the current budget is $242 million, a substantial dollar amount of that has been generated over multiple years, with most road projects taking two or three years for land acquisition, designing the project and the actual construction of the project, said Fowler. Those resources are kept and marked and only used for those specific purposes.

The revenue streams are statutorily restricted on how it can be used, said Kathy Bryant, Marion County Board of County Commissioners chair.