have bought their house maybe 30 or 40 years ago, and the inflation mounts up”…according to Unleash Prosperity Hotline 07/10/2026 – 07/12/2026

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• Budgets up; millage flat
• 2 kinds of inflation?
• 40 firefighters following the money
• Transparency = Trust …Check out our Special Report on the True Cost of Parks and Rec AT THE END!!

The first Board of County Commissioners’ Budget workshop was held on July 13^th.  They met to  determine the maximum millage rate for next year based on the budgets of each department.  County Administrator Don Donaldson, cautioned right out of the gate that services may be cut if each department’s budget was not approved.  The Commissioners “review” each budget publicly (one would hope they had done this privately and asked questions of department heads prior to this public nod) and set the maximum rate.  The good news is that the rate CANNOT go up from this.  BUT IT CAN GO DOWN.

Before reviewing the department’s requests, you should know that Martin County’s total budget is 44% reliant on property tax revenue.  Estimates are that 75% of that comes from residential properties.  That is NOT good.  Half of our property tax revenue should come from commercial and industrial.  Martin County has only about 4% C&I.  We will continue to bring this up until everyone understands this means as a homeowner your property taxes will pay a disproportionately large share of the budget.  We are talking to all those who did not want Costco or any industrial park even though they will probably never see them.  Attitudes have consequences which should be considered thoroughly and seriously.  

Another thought-provoking fact is that public safety makes up 66% of the County’s budget.   Should that be the case?  Should there be an analysis of our public safety departments from time to time, say every 10 years, performed by an outside entity qualified to execute such an exercise?  MCTA would argue that this is what private business would do.  We would also point out that such a study can’t hurt.  In fact, it may justify expenses or tighten some spending.

We have listed each department’s budget increase or in a few, very few cases, decreases below. But first ponder this.  You will notice that most all of the departments have increased their budgets and yet the millage will be kept at least flat.  How is that?  The County will bring in more money because the value of your property has increased.  So, the millage rate does not have to increase for it to have a built-in revenue increase.  Is this money that could be kept in your pocket?  If the Commissioners, instead of keeping a flat rate, adopted the “roll-back” rate, those dollars could be kept in your pocket.  The roll-back rate decreases the rate to the point where the County is only taking in the same amount of revenue they did last year regardless of property value increases. The County last adopted the “roll-back” rate in 2013 according to the administration. 
 
The most prevalent reasons for the budget increases were inflation and mandatory directives (mostly personnel benefits) from the State.  Nearly every department complained of inflation as a factor.  It was explained that even though inflation for the private sector has settled down, government still experiences it disproportionately.  (Don’t they buy in bulk?)  MCTA needs a PHD in economics to understand this.   The mandatory increases in health insurance are more easily understood. 
 
A reoccurring issue with the Fire/Rescue Department is turnover.  Apparently, firefighters jump ship for even the slightest increase in pay.  The Chief says there are 40 of them ready to move to Palm Beach County right now!  MCTA has heard the lament of the Fire Chief for years in this regard.  Perhaps it’s time for the state to pay firefighters.  Perhaps a flat fee for each or pay them according to region.  Assuming that there is a solution for every problem, it is time to solve this one.
                       
If adopted, Martin County’s budget will increase from $763,193,473 in 2026 to $804,629,635 in 2027.  Only four years ago in 2022 it was $526,490,922.  If we stay on this trajectory, we will be paying over $1 Billion by 2030.  Our population has only grown by less than 2% since 1996 with the exception of last year when it grew by 2.1%.  Is there something wrong with this picture?  Even accounting for a disproportionate inflation government says it contends with, budgets should not be increasing on this scale.
 
Your proposed millage rate will be 6.5614%.   Meaning for every $1000 of property value (less any homestead exemptions) you will pay $6.56.  But remember there are other authorities which tax you as well.   According to Property Appraiser, Jenny Fields, this year there will be 10 in total.  As Ms. Fields has said “There are many parts to your tax bill”.  Your (Truth in Millage) TRIM notice will come out in November.  Your opportunity to seek a lower rate will come in September at the Board of County Commissioners meetings on September 15 and 29^th when the public budget meetings are held at 5:05pm. 

Here is a list of the departments’ budgets tentatively approved:
Sheriff Department: total $128,462,075 up by 7.6%
Property Appraiser: total $5,584,829 up by 2.82%
Supervisor of Elections: total $1,873,479 up by 6.38%
Clerk of the County Court & Comptroller:  total $3,620,321 up by 7.0%
Sheriff Non-Departmental: total $11,498,459 up by 16.33%
Tax Collector: total $12,198,500 up by 6.28%
               *note that the tax collector’s fees should offset an estimated $6,333,054 in 2027.
Constitutional Officers/Judicial/State Agencies:  Total $3,341,356 down by .001%
Administration Department:  Total $13,664,137 up by 6.67%
Airport: Total $2,465,128 up by 6.78%
              *note that the airport is an enterprise fund and does not take taxpayer dollars but operates on 
              fees charged to users of its facilities.
Building Department: Total $8,008,331 up by 3.3%
             *note that this department is also partially fee based and will turn an estimated $2M  back to the                  County by the end of the fiscal year.
Capital Improvement Plan:  (This was approved in April at a separate workshop). Total $96,450,734
             down 2.23%
Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) of the Commissioners: Total $1,473,739 up by 2.11%
            *note that this is NOT a real number as at least one commissioner requested to use the
             roll back rate.  We will see new calculations on this at the September meeting if not
             before.
Community Development: Total $824,156 up by 2.99%
County Attorney: Total $1,601,850 down by 5.58%
Fire/Rescue:  Total $77,582,688 up by 4.92%
General Services: Total $12,886,979 up by 3.39%
Growth Management: Total $3,531,756 up by 2,74%
Information Technology Service: Total $13,850,205 up by 2.21%
Library: Total $5,809,635 up by 2.91%
Parks and Recreation:  Total $20,351,761 up by 3.7%
Public Works: Total $29,807,933 up by 8.19%
Utilities & Solid Waste: Total $74,089,687 up 6.1%
            *note that this department is an enterprise fund and takes 0 tax dollars to operate
Non-Departmental:  “This cost center encompasses budget line items that are either intrinsically  countywide or are not assigned to a specific County department”: Total $270,323,189 up 7.14%
 
Martin County School Board   🎓🎓🎓🎓🎓🎓
The School Board is adopting a millage rate of 4.8770 for 2026/27 which is .3 mills less than this year’s rate. The “Required Local Effort” s 2.6590. That is .3950 less than last year’s rate. The discretionary rate, which is the amount set by the state, is the same for both years at .7480. The additional Voted Millage rate .4550 and 1.0150, which is slightly more than last year was approved by referendum in the past. It is still lower than the Rollback rate by 2.16%.  The  tentative budget for 2026/27 has the district collecting $551,044,202. The rate of 4.8770 is what was adopted for the TRIM Statement and cannot be any higher when they vote in September on the budget.  You can see the presentation here:  https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:1d0b99a8-26ad-
477c-8661-a00a8b279dc6
   
On June 9, 2026, Martin County Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Abbate presented an update to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on the department’s “Special Facilities.” These are the revenue-generating operations intended to help cover their own costs (or ideally generate surpluses to support other parks and programs).
 
The facilities discussed were:

• Seaside Café
• Sailfish Sands Golf Course
• Phipps Park Campground
• Manatee Pocket Mooring Field
• Jensen Beach Mooring Field
• Sailfish Splash Water Park & Pool

 
According to the FY 2026 Martin County Budget projections:

• Seaside Café: Projected loss of $354,990
• Sailfish Sands Golf Course: Projected loss of $390,102
• Jensen Beach Mooring Field: Projected surplus of $107,058
• Sailfish Splash Water Park & Pool: Projected surplus of $152,343

 
Phipps Park Campground and Manatee Pocket Mooring Field were not broken out individually in the same detail. The presentation showed $560,173 in “Reserves” (treated as revenue) for Phipps Park; annualized, this implies an operating loss of approximately $368,000 for the year. Detailed revenue figures for the Manatee Pocket Mooring Field could not be isolated from the broader county budget documents.
 
Department Overview

Martin County Parks and Recreation manages more than 1,736 acres across 75 parks, beaches, and causeways. The department’s direct operating budget for FY 2026 is $19,624,707. This figure does not include indirect support costs provided by other county departments.
 
Notable dedicated indirect support includes $390,717 allocated by the Information Technology Department specifically for Parks and Recreation systems and services.
 
Additional central services that support the department (but are not typically itemized within the Parks budget) include:

• Human Resources (recruitment, benefits, training)
• Finance/Budget/Accounting (payroll, reporting, monitoring)
• Procurement
• County Attorney/Legal (contracts, liability, compliance)
• Public Works/Facilities (major maintenance and repairs)
• Risk Management/Insurance
• Fleet Management
• Communications/Public Affairs
• Planning/Environmental/Permitting

 
These overhead functions represent real costs of operating the department that are borne by county taxpayers but are not reflected in the Parks and Recreation line-item budget.
 
Funding Sources for Direct Costs (FY 2026)

• Parks & Recreation MSTU (0.1474 mills): ≈ $3.966 million
• Dedicated revenues (user fees, charges, concessions, mooring fees, plus net surpluses from profitable facilities): ≈ $6.743 million
• General Fund contribution: $8.915 million

 
Total: ≈ $19.624 million
 
Analysis: Transparency and True Cost
 
Residents enjoy the county’s parks, beaches, trails, and recreational programs, but the full cost of delivering these amenities is not fully transparent in the department’s published budget. The $19.6 million direct budget is supplemented by roughly $391,000 in dedicated IT support alone, with additional unallocated overhead from multiple central departments.
 
In simple terms, the department requires more than $20 million annually to operate when including the dedicated IT allocation. The current Parks MSTU generates only about $4 million. The balance comes from user fees and a substantial General Fund subsidy.
 
If the tax-supported portion of the budget (current MSTU + General Fund contribution, totaling approximately $12.88 million) were consolidated entirely into the Parks and Recreation MSTU—while keeping dedicated user revenues separate—the required millage rate would rise to roughly 0.48–0.51 mills (approximately 3.3–3.5 times the current 0.1474 mills). Including full indirect costs would increase this figure further.
 
Key Questions for Taxpayers and Policymakers

• Should the county continue subsidizing facilities that are projected to lose money (such as Seaside Café and Sailfish Sands Golf Course) through general taxpayer dollars?
• Are the revenue projections for the “profitable” facilities realistic and sustainable?
• Would consolidating all tax support for Parks and Recreation into a single, dedicated MSTU—with full transparency on both direct and indirect costs—be more equitable and understandable for residents?
• What level of service and subsidy do Martin County taxpayers want to provide for parks and recreation?

 
Recommendations for Greater Transparency

1. Publish a consolidated “full-cost” report for the Parks and Recreation Department that includes allocated central services and overhead.
2. Provide clearer, facility-by-facility financial performance data (including capital vs. operating costs) on a regular basis.
3. Use the county’s OpenGov financial transparency portal to make these details easily accessible and filterable by the public.
4. Hold regular public workshops on the long-term financial sustainability of special facilities.

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