Manatee County moves to cut millage rate as reserves rise

During the latest in a series of budget meetings, Commissioner Jason Bearden had one major question for Chief Financial Officer Sheila McLean: Does Manatee County need a billion dollars in reserves? 

“We have needs in this county; our residents are sitting in traffic,” Bearden said. “This is insane, and that’s why I’m going to be pushing to do something to figure out a way to release some of these reserves.”

McLean proposed $995,959,976 be set aside in the fiscal year 2026 budget at the Sept. 10 budget workshop. However, the final budget won’t be approved until a second public hearing Sept. 22.

“We try to keep at least 20% of the operating funds in the event of a catastrophic event or hurricanes,” McLean said. “It’s not a lot; 20% is only two months of operating costs.” 

Bearden argued that the county has so much money piling up in reserves that putting 20% a year (about $105 million) into the general fund is no longer necessary and asked if other counties operate with such a high reserve. 

Sarasota County’s 2024 Impact Report shows its reserves at $268.4 million with $140 million in the general fund, which is the least restrictive fund. 

Commission Chair George Kruse pointed out the restrictions of spending down the majority of the money set aside in reserves. 

“A lot of this money came for other places, and it came to do other things (than build roads),” he said. “It’s not fungible money that could be spent unless you want to go to the state and explain it, and they’re going to laugh you out of the room.” 

Kruse called Bearden’s argument pandering to the people by cutting their taxes and simultaneously risking their future by gutting the reserves and praying a storm doesn’t hit. 

The reserves are broken down into several categories. Only the general fund allows the flexibility to pay for operating expenses, such as salaries and utility bills, following a disaster. 

The rest of the categories are earmarked for specific purposes, such as libraries and beach erosion. 

Mike Meehan, a financial analyst and Manatee County resident, has been arguing that residents are overtaxed since before Bearden was elected. 

He was in the commission chambers Sept. 10 asking commissioners once again to lower taxes and spend some of the reserves. 

“Commissioner Bearden, you’ve got $790.2 million worth of reserves that you can do anything you want with,” Meehan said. “I’ve got the report (dated July 31) right here. I talked about this with the clerk’s office this afternoon, and they have backed up their numbers.” 

Part of Meehan’s argument is that Manatee County needs to spend $493 million to be in compliance with Florida statutes, which state that the reserve for contingencies can’t exceed 10% of the total appropriations and the reserve for cash balances can’t exceed 20% of the total appropriations. 

Kruse responded to Meehan by saying that he was sure DOGE had duly noted the county's "year over year over year" violation of Florida statute. 

Reduced millage

By the end of the meeting, Bearden was able to move the needle by $3.7 million with a .05 reduction in the tentative millage rate. 

He received help from Commissioner Bob McCann. Because McCann couldn’t give residents in his district a widened Lorraine Road, he insisted on giving them a tax break. 

“I had one priority, and it got overruled by this board,” he said. “This is a property tax thing where we’re actually giving money back to constituents. You might not want to do that, but I definitely do.” 

McCann was speaking directly to Commissioner Tal Siddique, who called the proposed .05 mill reduction “a token gesture” and was the only commissioner to vote against the tax cut.

Siddique had challenged his fellow commissioners to look at the capital improvement plan with “more courage” and cut some high-dollar projects from their districts versus a cut that’s “not going to make a difference” in the budget.

A .05 millage reduction saves property owners $15 a year on a $300,000 home and rises or falls based on the home’s value. 

“It might look small right now,” Bearden said, “But how many times have we cut taxes in the last four years?”

The millage was cut three out of the past four years — by .2 mills in 2021, .3 mills in 2022 and .15 mills in 2024. When adding another .05 mill to the equation, the savings on a $300,000 home comes out to $210.