The Leon County Commission has taken the first steps in approving and ratifying its 2026 fiscal budget and there are two big winners: members of the Capital Area Justice Ministry and county employees who can expect yet another annual 5% pay raise for the fourth year in a row.
The annual spending plan totals in at around $400 million and covers several items from the sheriff’s budget, infrastructure projects and notably working toward affordable housing.
The county budget comes days after the Leon County Property Appraiser sent their preliminary tax rolls to the Florida Department of Revenue and local taxing authorities, with a 7.8% increase in taxable property values, which means more money for the commission.
The county now has two budget public hearings scheduled in the September before a final ratification, but their approval of the preliminary numbers signal good news for several local residents and organizations.
County shows support for affordable housing
As they have before, members of the Capital Area Justice Ministry donned their green t-shirts and left few seats available in the county commission chambers as they patiently waited through a lengthy agenda. Their hope was to that all the local government meetings they’ve attended would lead to the greenlight of their affordable housing initiative.
Other iterations of a CAJM-backed affordable housing program had been rejected by the city commission and the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency. The county was the last stop and their vote has solidified a long-held hope to assist those who are struggling to find a home.
A total of $500,000, split among State Housing Initiatives Partnership funding (SHIP), the Office of Economic Vitality (OEV) and the county’s general revenue fund will be used for funding projects targeting very low and extremely low-income households.
Upon the unanimous approval, CAJM members stood up and gave roaring applause.
Officials from the city of Tallahassee, Leon County, Tallahassee Housing Authority and more gather together to cut the ribbon for the grand opening of Ridge Road Flats, a new affordable housing apartment complex.
County employees to receive another 5% pay increase amid grave concerns
County commissioners voted 4-3, split right down the middle, for another pay increase for their employees.
For the past three years, county employees have received an across-the-board pay increase of 5% and this means everybody including the county administrator and county attorney.
There were two options commissioners had on the table in terms of pay raises, one was merit based as opposed to the across-the-board blanket raise.
Commissioner Carolyn Cummings pointed to recent awards county staff had received as a reasoning for rewarding all those who work for the county: “We have great county employees, they make us look good.”
She also pointed to the ongoing uncertainties in both state and federal government and how she would rather help employees while they can.
Leon County Staff and commission aides listen and watch presentations during the county retreat.
Commissioner David O’Keefe said that the awards were exactly why the commission should move toward a merit based approach.
“It is motivating the top performers and that is where, if I do the bare minimum, versus if I go above and beyond and everyone’s getting 5%… if this if the way the majority of the board wants to go, we can save ourselves time each year and just make it the policy,” O’Keefe said.
Commissioner Brian Welch joined O’Keefe in his support of a merit-based approach, saying the county had to practice better fiscal policy.
“I think that this is now 20% over four years, I think it’s really bad fiscal policy. I think that while we may have the money now, we all acknowledge that we very likely won’t have it next year or the year after that,” Welch said.
“We are effectively saying that we’re going to give (staff) a 5% across-the-board pay increase in this county every year, which means in 20 years, salaries are going to double,” Welch continued.
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County budget continues with affordable housing and pay raises