Nassau County commissioners adopted a $453.3 million budget Sept. 28 that closes the Bryceville library and keeps reduced hours in Yulee and Fernandina Beach, during a packed meeting that ran more than three hours and required an overflow room. Later in the evening, commissioners postponed a vote on Wards Creek, a proposed development of nearly 380 acres off Old Nassauville Road, after neighbors presented binders of documents challenging the application.
Final budget adopted, 5-0
Commissioners approved the fiscal year 2026-27 budget of $453,302,264 on a 5-0 vote, on a motion by Commissioner Jeff Gray, seconded by Commissioner A.M. “Hupp” Huppmann. They also voted 5-0 to set a countywide millage rate of 6.5178 mills and a Municipal Service Taxing District rate of 2.1479 mills, for a total of 8.7617 mills. Assistant County Manager Marshall Eyerman said the countywide rate amounts to only a 1.91% increase, below the 3.4% rise in the Consumer Price Index in August. Commissioner John Martin said this is the sixth consecutive year the board has lowered the millage rate.
County Manager Taco Pope reviewed the budget process, which began with the board’s winter strategic planning session in February and continued through workshops, including a six-hour budget workshop June 22 that is available to watch on the county’s website. “We’re not going to rehash everything over the course of twelve months in a single public hearing,” Pope said.
Pope said libraries were one of many cuts across nearly every department, and he warned that reduced roadside mowing will likely become “a flashpoint” by spring. He said the county has begun studying special taxing units, known as MSTUs, that would give services such as libraries, animal services or parks their own millage rate, so residents could see and choose their level of funding…