County budget — Brevard County, Florida

The Brevard County Board of County Commissioners adopted a $2,509,876,505 budget for the fiscal year that runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, according to the county Budget Office in Viera.

The Budget Office develops both the annual operating budget and the five-year Capital Improvement Program, and the county also runs enterprise funds such as Water/Wastewater, which the office describes as financed mainly through charges and fees rather than the tax rate (Brevard Budget Office FAQ). The office, at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera, posts proposed budgets from July through September and the current budget once it takes effect each October 1 (Brevard County Budget Office). As of October 12, 2026, the Budget Office home page still showed the 2025-2026 adopted figure, and no 2026-2027 total was displayed there.

Property taxes are only one revenue line. The Brevard Budget Office lists ad valorem taxes and non ad valorem assessments, fees for services, grants, gasoline taxes and impact fees among the county's revenue sources, and it tracks spending monthly with Budget vs. Actual reports. Questions go to Budget Office Director Keith Neterer at (321) 633-2153.

For 2025-26 the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners levied 2.8643 mills, down from 2.9207 the year before but 3.4% above the rolled-back rate of 2.7703, per the Florida Department of Revenue.

A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, the Brevard Budget Office explains, so the 2.8643 county rate works out to $286.43 on a home with $100,000 of taxable value (2.8643 times 100). The Department of Revenue's Table 1 lists the Brevard County BCC levy at $209,300,409 for 2025-26, a 5.5% rise in taxes over 2024-25 even after the rate cut (Florida Department of Revenue, Table 1, Brevard).

The Department of Revenue groups every unit in the table above under the Brevard County BCC. The S Brevard Rec 2001-2020 levy saw its taxes jump 49.1% when its rate rose from 0.2178 to 0.3000. All county and dependent district levies together raised $329,254,009 in 2025-26, a 6.3% increase over 2024-25.

The Brevard County Budget Office builds each budget over a year-round cycle that starts with the new fiscal year in October and ends with two September public hearings in Viera.

The calendar comes from the Budget Office's own timeline (Brevard Budget Process Timeline). Two outside deadlines shape it. Section 129.03 has the sheriff, the clerk of the circuit court and county comptroller, the supervisor of elections and a tax collector covered by a section 145.022 resolution submit tentative budgets to the county commission on or before June 1, unless the board moves that date to May 1 by resolution (F.S. 129.03). The Budget Office timeline then has the certified tax roll arrive from the Brevard Property Appraiser in July.

Capital spending is planned separately. The Brevard Budget Office defines the Capital Improvement Program as items costing $35,000 or more with an expected service life of five years or longer, such as construction, land acquisition or equipment, and departments propose those projects for approval by the Board of County Commissioners during the budget cycle.

The Brevard County Board of County Commissioners scheduled its fiscal 2026-2027 budget and millage hearings for Tuesday, September 8 and Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at 5:05 PM in Viera, after a July 21 session.

The schedule was published under Chapter 200.065 of the Florida Statutes (Brevard County Budget Office), and the Proposed Budget page repeats the two September dates (Brevard Proposed Budget FY 2026-2027). The odd 5:05 PM start in Viera follows state law: section 200.065 requires these hearings to be held after 5 p.m. on any day other than Saturday, bars Sunday hearings, and says the county commission shall not schedule its hearings on days scheduled for hearings by the school board (F.S. 200.065). The Brevard County School Board's September hearing was scheduled for September 10, between the two commission dates.

The same statute sets the order of business at the Viera hearings. The tentative hearing falls within 80 days of certification of value but not earlier than 65 days after; the first substantive issue discussed is the percentage increase in millage over the rolled-back rate; and the board adopts its millage rate before adopting its budget. Within 15 days after the tentative hearing, the county advertises its intent to adopt the final millage rate and budget.

A Palm Bay or Melbourne property owner pays the Brevard County rates plus a city rate, the school rate and several special districts, and the county budget sets only the county share of that bill.

The Brevard Budget Office lists the other taxing authorities on a county property bill, among them the School Board, St. Johns River Water Management, the Florida Inland Navigation District, the Sebastian Inlet District, the City of Palm Bay, the City of Melbourne, the City of West Melbourne, the Town of Malabar and the Town of Grant-Valkaria (Brevard Budget Office FAQ). City rates in South Brevard vary widely, as the state's 2025-26 table shows.

Palm Bay raised the most city property tax in Brevard in 2025-26, $69,651,929 at 6.7000 mills, ahead of Melbourne at 7.0112 mills (Florida Department of Revenue). Each August, the Brevard Budget Office timeline notes, a notice of proposed taxes (the TRIM notice) is mailed to taxpayers.

The Brevard County Budget Office defines the rolled-back rate as the millage that, excluding new construction, raises the same property tax revenue as the prior year, and treats it as no tax increase.

The TRIM, or Truth in Millage, notice itself traces to a 1980 Florida law that changed the budget process for local taxing governments so the public would know the intentions of each taxing authority, according to the Brevard Budget Office (Brevard Budget Office FAQ). Under the rolled-back rate, the Budget Office adds, the only source of additional revenue is taxes levied on new construction.

Two more terms show up in Brevard hearings. The aggregated millage rate is the sum of countywide taxes and dependent district taxes divided by total taxable value, an average rate across Brevard. An enterprise fund, such as the county's Water/Wastewater operation, is run like a private business and paid for mainly through charges and fees. Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Brevard County Budget Office website and the Florida Department of Revenue data portal.