Have you ever wondered how much money it takes to run our county, how much it takes in from every possible way to support the needs of our citizens? Many of our county residents are aware of how the county spends these funds, but now you will know more about where it comes from. First, thanks to Gordon Burger, the director of budget and administrative services for Charlotte County for his assistance in supplying the information for this article.

Before I break down the numbers, I’ll supply some facts that will give the reader some idea of the changes that have taken place over the past decade. In 2002, our total county revenue amounted to $161,983,051. In 2011, this was $284,549,439,
a gain of $122,573,078, or better than a
75 percent increase. Of this, property taxes brought in $62,406,267 in 2002, in 2011 property taxes brought in $108,578,007, a gain of $46,171,740, or a gain of 74 percent. One other item to be concerned with is the fact that the countywide assessment increased by about $5 billion. Between 2002 and 2005, the county almost doubled its spending. Property taxes went up a little over 30 percent during this time as well. Property tax revenue went up almost 38 percent from 2005 to 2006 as assessments rose by 3 billion. There was also a .6 increase in the millage rate in 2006. The county has managed to live leaner on property tax revenue that in 2011 was less than it was back in 2006. It has gone down each of the last five years. We must remember this is revenue, and not millage rates.