Lee County Supervisors announced property tax increase

The Lee County Board of Supervisors announced a proposed 34% property tax increase on Wednesday coming one day after a large crowd filled its meeting in opposition to possible school closures. The Tuesday night turnout at the board’s budget meeting was so large that an overflow room was needed. Residents arrived at the meeting carrying signs opposing school closures. Lee County Public Schools Superintendent Brian Dean spoke at the meeting and urged the board to try and match the county budget to the school system’s to avoid the closure of physical schools. The school board had initially asked for $7.8 million but the proposed budget discussed on Tuesday only allocated $7.1 million to the school system. Wednesday, the board of supervisors posted a notice of a proposed real property tax increase to its Facebook page. The board is scheduled to vote on the final 2025-26 budget June 25 following a 6 p.m. public hearing.