Okaloosa County Commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday to hold the county’s property tax millage rate at 3.8308 mills for the 11th consecutive year, but not before a lengthy debate over whether the county should continue funding half of the school resource officer program, a discussion that carried directly into Chairman Trey Goodwin’s unsuccessful motion to cut that funding and lower the tax rate.

Near the end of the July 21 budget workshop, following department presentations, Commissioner Paul Mixon raised concerns about the county’s cost-sharing arrangement with the Okaloosa County School District for SROs. 

• The county began funding half the cost of placing officers in every school in 2018, a decision Hofstad said came on the heels of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in South Florida. Prior to that, the sheriff had officers in the high schools but not in all schools, according to County Administrator John Hofstad.

Hofstad said the county has spent more than $25 million on the program since 2018, with the current-year cost at $4.255 million and the projected cost for fiscal year 2027 at roughly $4.4 million. The arrangement was intended to be a 50/50 split between the county and the school district.

But Mixon said the partnership is no longer balanced.

“Our partnership is off. We’re not 50/50 partners,” Mixon said. “Someone else is paying most of their bill, and they’re not contributing to ours.”

The issue, Mixon and other commissioners said, is state Safe Schools funding that has flowed to the school district since 2019. Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel cited Department of Education figures showing the district received roughly $2.985 million in Safe Schools funding in the 2025-26 school year and $2.954 million for 2026-27.

Hofstad said the Safe Schools money has effectively reduced the school district’s out-of-pocket contribution. When the county last analyzed the numbers, he said, the district was funding roughly $1.7 million of its share.

Commissioner Sherri Cox said that if the Safe Schools money is applied entirely to the SRO program, the school district’s remaining out-of-pocket contribution would be far less than the county’s.

“That’s way less than half, and their coffers will not be affected by property tax reform, correct?” Cox asked, referencing the upcoming property tax amendment on the November ballot.

• “Correct,” Hofstad said.

Hofstad said he has met with the school district superintendent and the sheriff in recent months to discuss the SRO funding arrangement. He also noted the county has provided additional support beyond the SRO contract, including funding a mass notification system in schools through the local option sales tax and purchasing ballistic gear for school-based officers.

Commissioner Drew Palmer said he wanted to understand whether the Safe Schools money is dedicated to the SRO program or whether it can also be used for other safety measures such as campus hardening and fencing.

Hofstad said the money can be used for a range of school safety purposes, not exclusively SROs. Palmer said that distinction matters when evaluating whether the county is truly shouldering more than its share.

• “I don’t have a position on this. I’m not advocating one way or another, but I’d like clarity,” Palmer said.

Mixon asked staff to research seven years of funding data showing the county’s contributions versus the school district’s actual expenditures on the program. He stressed he was not opposed to SROs.

“I’m very grateful that we can do what we can to protect the children that are inside of the institutions,” Mixon said. “However, our partnership is off.”

Chairman Trey Goodwin weighed in at length during the workshop, framing the issue as a question of the county’s proper role.

“It’s not a question of are SROs a good thing. I think most people agree they are,” Goodwin said. “It’s…are SROs a county government funding duty?”

Goodwin said the county’s involvement was an appropriate response to the Stoneman Douglas crisis but should not have become a permanent budget item.

• “If my power goes out and I hook up a generator to my refrigerator, that doesn’t mean from there on out I’m just going to run my refrigerator on a generator for the next 10 years,” Goodwin said.

He said the county is operating outside its responsibilities by funding another local government’s operations.

“We’re not on the school board. We’re not supposed to be funding their operations. That’s not what the state law has identified our jobs to be, and frankly, that’s not what we were hired to do,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin also noted that the county’s funding of public school SROs has drawn requests from private schools seeking the same support.

• “The complaints I get are [that] private schools want them, and they want the county to pay for them,” Goodwin said. “And they say, ‘Well, you’re not on the school district, but you’re paying for the school district’s SROs, so why can’t you pay for mine?'”

Ketchel agreed, saying if the county is going to fund SROs for public schools, it should consider doing the same for private and faith-based schools. She noted that enrollment in private schools has grown through the state voucher program.

Palmer pushed back on the framing that SROs fall entirely outside the county’s responsibilities, arguing that public safety, including in schools, is part of what county government funds through the sheriff’s office.

“I don’t think it’s as simple as just saying that we’re not on the school board,” Palmer said.

When the workshop concluded and a special meeting opened to set the tentative millage rates, Goodwin brought the SRO discussion directly into the vote. He passed the gavel to Vice Chairman Drew Palmer and moved to eliminate the county’s SRO funding of $4.25 million and adopt a reduced millage rate of 3.6961 mills.

• “We just had the opportunity to provide property tax relief right now, right here today, to our taxpayers in Okaloosa County,” Goodwin said. “We didn’t have to ask the state of Florida. We didn’t have to ask anybody for permission.”

The motion died without a second.

Mixon said he agreed on the direction but could not support cutting the funding based on a discussion he said he had raised “less than a half hour ago.”

“That’s a big Band-Aid, and I’m scared a touch of just completely pulling the rug,” Mixon said. “I don’t believe the juice is worth the squeeze to do it in such haste today. There will be a time for us to discuss this, and I believe confidently there’ll be a time for us to take action on it. But I just can’t go along that the time is today.”

He also noted that the sheriff has already prepared his budget and filled positions for the coming year based on the existing funding level.

Cox said she would support a gradual reduction in the county’s SRO funding but could not back an abrupt cut.

“I’ve never heard a single taxpayer complain about there being SROs in schools,” Cox said.

Ketchel said reducing the millage rate is not the right move with the November ballot measure looming.

• “We’ve got a huge elephant in the room in November on the ballot,” Ketchel said.

Palmer said he wanted staff to complete its research before the commission acts.

“To make a quick decision like that without allowing staff to do the research and come back with it, that’s another reason why I couldn’t support it,” Palmer said.

Goodwin, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said he did not need further analysis to know the county was spending outside its role.

“I’m gonna vote no because I think now is the time to do it, and not because I’m against SROs,” Goodwin said. “I support them completely. I’m happy to pay that on my school board tax. But as a commissioner, that’s not what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Setting the millage

Mixon then moved to set the tentative millage at 3.8308 mills with an aggregate rate of 3.9615 mills. Ketchel seconded. The motion passed 4-1 with Goodwin voting no.

As part of his motion, Mixon asked Hofstad to prepare an analysis of the county’s budget distinguishing between services required by law and those provided to enhance quality of life.

• The commission also voted to hold the unincorporated MSTU millage at 0.2880 mills.

Hofstad said the tentative millage rates cannot be exceeded without a unanimous vote of the board. The first public budget hearing is scheduled for Sept. 3 at the Crestview courthouse, with final budget adoption set for Sept. 15 at the county’s administrative complex in Shalimar. Both hearings will begin at 5:01 p.m. as required by state law.