Major Revenue Sources -

Trends & Assumptions


Major Revenue Sources - Trends and Assumptions

Listed below are the major revenue sources and the underlying assumptions and trends for each.

Ad Valorem (Property) Taxes


This the largest source of revenue for the County at $447.9 million, or 39.86% of the total budget. Ad valorem taxes result from the levy of taxes on real property and tangible personal property. Counties are authorized to levy up to 10 mills for countywide purposes on all taxable property within the county and an additional 10 mills in the unincorporated area for municipal purposes. The Ad Valorem Tax budget is derived from the Property Appraiser's certification of taxable values multiplied by the County's proposed millage rates for the General Fund operating millage, the Fire MSTU, and the eight General Obligation (GO) Bonds. These calculations are administered under Chapter 200, Florida Statutes.


Initial revenue projections are based on time series analysis. Consideration is also given to the consensus method provided by the State. These projections are utilized until the Property Appraiser's Office provides the initial taxable values on June 1 and then finalizes those values on July 1. The County's millage rate was decreased for FY 24 for the General Fund from 7.6076 mills to 7.5700, or -0.49%. The Fire MSTU Fund millage was increased from 1.8036 to 2.1225 or 17.68%; however, the combined millage rate for the GO Bonds decreased by 0.0090 mills due primarily to the fact no other tranches were issued in FY24 and the taxable value increasing, leading to a lower millage needed to pay the GO Bonds' debt service. The total millage rate that County taxpayers will pay in FY 23 is 9.9642 mills compared to 9.6919 mills in FY 23. This is an increase of 2.81%. This increase in millage in addition to the increase of over 16.5% in taxable values leads to the projected increase in revenue for FY 24.


Wastewater and Water Sales

Pasco County Utilities was directed by the Board of County Commissioners to develop a 4-year rate adjustment study starting in FY 2018 to provide sufficient funding for operating and capital costs. Utilities utilized a consultant to accomplish this. On December 10, 2019, the Board adopted resolutions 20-048, Public Interest & Acquisition Resolution & Transition Agreement to initiate the acquisition of the Pasco Aqua system. On January 7, 2020, the board adopted resolution 20-053, increasing rates by 2.0% to support the acquisition and acquired the system effective July 1, 2020. A consultant utilizes the econometric forecasting method for the Utilities Department for their various revenue sources. The consultant accounted for these resolutions when developing their rate study for each fiscal year.


During the FY 2022 rate study analysis the consultant recommended for the county to adjust the retail and bulk user rates. On August 24, 2021, the board adopted resolution 21-278 for an annual rate increase of 1.5% to water rates, 3.5% to sewer rates, and 3.5% to reclaimed water rates through FY 2025. Since Water Sales and Wastewater Sales are all covered under the same fee study, this section will be inclusive of these revenues.


The consultant works with Utilities to obtain assumptions and policies in order to provide an accurate rate study. Some of the assumptions include:


  • Historical budgeted financials for operating reclaimed water systems
  • Historical customer counts and volume data by class of customer
  • Utility’s multi-year CIP
  • Utility’s short and long-term debt service obligations
  • Reserve requirements
  • Historical weather activities (rainfall)
  • Planned developments/customer growth
  • Earnings on invested funds
  • Operating costs trends

All this information was entered into the consultant's comprehensive financial planning model which produced a 10-year projection of the adequacy of revenues provided by the current rates of the Utility to meet its current and projected financial requirements.


The County owns and operates 6 wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of 33 million gallons per day and a collection system of gravity sewers and force main sewers to collect and deliver wastewater to the treatment plant from approximately 99,000 service connections throughout the County.


Wastewater sales are projected to increase by about 10% in the next fiscal year due to increases in service connections and rates.


Utilities operates a water system consisting of groundwater supply wells, a potable water storage and a distribution system to serve more than 111,000 connections in the County. The County also purchases most of its water from Tampa Bay Water (TBW) through 6 interconnects. The amount of purchased water comes out to about 35 million gallons per day.


Water sales are projected to increase by about 7% in the next fiscal year due to increases in service connections and rate.

Sales Taxes


Authorized in 1982, the Local Government Half-Cent Sales Tax Program generates the largest amount of revenue for local governments among the state-shared revenue sources currently authorized by the State. Taxes are remitted by a sales tax dealer located within the county and are transferred into the State's Local Government Half-Cent Sales Tax Clearing Trust Fund to be earmarked for distribution to the governing body of that county and of each municipality within that county. The distribution amount is split by weighted population of the municipalities and the unincorporated areas within the County. Due to population growth and wage increases, the Half-Cent sales tax receipts have seen a steady increase in recent years. This revenue is projected based upon trend data since it is collected monthly. Recent trends indicated an average 9.6% annual increase.


The Penny for Pasco revenue source is a local discretionary sales surtax that applies to all transactions subject to the state tax imposed on sales, use, services, rentals, admissions, and other authorized transactions authorized pursuant to chapter. 212, Florida Statutes. The sales taxes are collected by the State and held in the Local Discretionary Surtax Trust Fund, then distributed by the Florida Department of Revenue based on the County's population relative to the State. This revenue is projected based upon trend data since it is collected monthly. Recent trends indicated an average 6.9% annual increase.

Electric Capacity Fees

Electric capacity payments are firm fixed payments provided to the County from Duke Energy for the guaranteed delivery of an agreed-upon amount of electricity. This electricity is generated from the Waste-to-Energy plant through the burning of garbage. The fee charged to Duke Energy increases by more than 6% per year as indicated in the current contract.

Stormwater Assessments

Similar to property taxes, stormwater assessments are collected through the Tax Collector's Office and are utilized to prevent flooding throughout the County. These assessments are charged to each property owner on an Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) basis. The $95 per ERU fee has remained in effect since FY 18. The revenue is projected based on time series analysis. Since the ERU fee will remain the same, the anticipated increase is due to an increase in the number of ERUs.

Federal Grants - Economic Environment

Pasco County receives grants for various services. Economic Environment grants relate primarily to the operations of the Community Development Department. These Federal grants are from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and vary from year-to-year based on the Federal Government's allocations.

Solid Waste Assessments - Residential

The Solid Waste assessment covers the proper disposal of solid waste for the County’s residents but does not cover the cost of collection of the solid waste as customers pay private haulers separately for collection and transport to the County’s facilities. Residential parcels are billed a flat fee annually, which is included on property tax bills issued by the Pasco County Tax Collector. Parcels designated as commercial receive an annual bill each year generated by the Customer Service Section of the Public Infrastructure Branch, based on actual solid waste generation rates (where available) or by the square footage of the building, multiplied by a waste generation factor based upon the property use type.


The County is in year five of a seven-year plan to increase this fee in order to keep up with the demands. The fee increased to $93.00 per equivalent residential unit for FY 23. The revenue projection includes the increase in fee as well as an increase in the number of customers.


Mobility Fees for Residential Construction in the Urban Service Area


Mobility Impact Fees are fees assessed on new construction based on a fee study conducted every 3-5 years where the sole purpose of the revenue is to fund capacity-increasing transportation infrastructure. The revenue budget is based upon the anticipated amount of building permits by building type multiplied by the applicable fee associated with the building's intended use.

Ambulance Service Fee


Ambulance service revenue is one of the largest revenue sources in the General Fund. The revenue source is budgeted by using the number of trips anticipated, the gross and net charges per trip, and the anticipated collection rate.

County Revenue Sharing


The Florida Revenue Sharing program was first created in 1972 in an attempt to ensure a minimum level of revenue parity across Counties. This revenue is derived from 2.9% of cigarette tax collections and 2.081% of net sales and use tax collections. This revenue source is administered under Chapter 409.915, Florida Statutes which outlines the County's participation requirements to receive the funding from the State. The distribution method is based on the weighted population of the County compared to the State's population.


Total Major Revenue Sources


The total major revenue sources described above equal $910.6 million, or 76% of the $1.19 billion total budgeted revenues. These amounts are net of fund balance (cash carry-forward), internal service funds fees and charges (Fleet and Risk Management charges, etc.), school impact fees (as these are pass-through revenues distributed directly to the School District), and other internal revenues (indirect costs, interfund transfers, and chargebacks).