Hernando County Sets Sept. 10 Hearing on FY2027 Budget and Tax Rate

Hernando County property owners will get their first look at exactly what the county plans to charge and spend next year when commissioners hold the First Budget Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 millage rate and budget on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, at 5:01 p.m. A Final Budget Public Hearing to adopt the millage and budget follows on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, also at 5:01 p.m. Both hearings will be held alongside the Board of County Commissioners' regular meetings at the Hernando County Courthouse, 20 N Main St in Brooksville, in the John Law Ayers Commission Chambers, Room 160.

The budget covers Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027, and it's shaping up to be one of the tighter ones county staff have had to build in years. That's because the county is already publicly warning that a pending state property tax referendum could tear a $31.5 million hole in the budget in its first year alone, growing to a $48.2 million reduction the year after, if voters approve it.

What's driving the shortfall warning

County Administrator Jeff Rogers and Management and Budget Director Erin Dorn walked commissioners through the tentative budget on July 30, laying out a taxable base of roughly $19.4 billion against a current total millage rate of 7.8275 mills. Dorn told the board the county is still working through elevated storm recovery costs and thinner reserves left over from the 2024 hurricanes, on top of the looming state referendum.

That referendum would raise the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, and it would lower the cap on assessment increases for non-homesteaded property from 10% to 5%. It needs 60% voter approval to pass. If it does, county officials say the recurring revenue loss would force either service cuts, delayed projects, or both, since one-time reserve funds can only soften the blow for so long.

Commissioners voted July 30 to defer several capital projects and directed staff to bring back a refined list of further cuts ahead of the September hearings. Any millage rate above the "rollback rate," the rate that would generate the same revenue as the prior year, has to be formally adopted at these hearings.

What residents can do

Both hearings are open for public comment before commissioners vote. Residents who want to weigh in on the millage rate or specific spending lines, whether that's road paving, fire and EMS staffing, or parks funding, can speak in person at either hearing or follow along through the county's meeting agendas and live links posted online. Property owners should also have received or will soon receive their Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice from the property appraiser, which shows the proposed rate for their specific parcel and what it would mean for their tax bill.

The county has not yet released the list of specific cuts staff were asked to bring back in July, and it's not yet clear which programs or projects might see reductions if the referendum passes in November. Those details are expected to surface as staff finalizes numbers ahead of the Sept. 10 hearing.

For meeting agendas, live links and the recommended budget once posted, visit Hernando County's Office of Management and Budget page.

Want to keep up with how this budget process unfolds? Visit Hernando County Community Website for ongoing coverage, follow us on Facebook, and join the conversation in our Community Forum. For more coverage of county decisions that affect your wallet, check out our government and politics section.

Header photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)