PALM HARBOR — Directors of the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency presented their 2027 budget outlooks to county commissioners this week, knowing the property taxes that bankroll most of their operations could be wiped out by the state Legislature.
Between them, Palm Harbor Recreation, the Palm Harbor Library and the East Lake Community Library draw roughly 70% or more of their revenue from ad valorem taxes — the same revenue stream lawmakers in Tallahassee have proposed eliminating.
“It’s been an odd year to prepare a budget and figure out what was coming down from the state Legislature,” Palm Harbor Recreation Director Erica Lynford told commissioners.
Lynford said the recreation department projects a $2.71 million operating budget in 2027, with $1.81 million coming from residential property taxes. Program fees account for another $600,000, facility rentals $200,000, group user fees $60,000 and special events $20,000.
“We rely heavily on our ad valorem, but we also take our budget into our own hands,” she said. “Without those two huge subsidies to our budget, we’d never balance.”
Facility rentals, she noted, include baseball and softball fields and sand volleyball courts, not just buildings.
Personnel accounts for 43% of the recreation budget, covering 12 full-time and 17 part-time staff plus insurance, payroll taxes and training. Another 30% goes to agency overhead — fire monitoring, IT and office supplies. Field turf care consumes 12%, capital replacement 6%, utilities 5% and facilities maintenance 4%.
“We run six different facilities with buildings and fields, with 12 full-time employees and myself,” Lynford said. “When we say we do a lot with a little, we really are.”
She said Palm Harbor’s 62,000-plus residents make it larger than neighboring Dunedin, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor and Tarpon Springs. Holding the millage rate at 0.25 mills, she said, is the only way the department can keep up.
Lynford said she has negotiated a 25-year lease to operate Palm Field, which was battered by hurricanes that damaged its lights and tore holes in its turf. She is pursuing grants to rehabilitate the complex.
A certificate of occupancy is also pending for 2,500 square feet of new space at the Sunderman Complex, with programming set to begin in June.
Library faces its own pressures
Palm Harbor Library Director Matthew David, who took the job in 2023, said his 2027 budget totals $2.34 million. Property taxes supply 73%, the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative 20%, fundraising and interest 3%, and the Friends of the Library 2%.
Personnel makes up 60% of library costs and operations 36%, with the remaining 4% going to the parent agency.
The Friends group raises about $40,000 a year, David said. The library lost its founder, Jeanette Maloof, in January at age 96.
David said the library is exploring ways to add indoor space to accommodate growing crowds while continuing the mission Maloof established nearly 50 years ago.
East Lake expansion advances
East Lake Community Library Director Anne-Marie Nurnberger told commissioners the library’s long-awaited expansion is entering the design phase, with groundbreaking set for winter 2026. The library has launched a $7 million capital campaign.
Nurnberger, who was promoted from assistant director two months ago after eight years as circulation director at the Dunedin Library, said the East Lake branch fills a void in a community with no senior center, community center or arts center.
The library logged 70,530 visits in 2025 in a district where 13,290 residents hold library cards, she said. It hosted more than 530 events drawing 14,772 attendees.
Ad valorem taxes supply 71.6% of the library’s revenue and the cooperative another 23.9%, she said. The 2027 operating budget is projected at $1.47 million, with personnel — nine full-time and 12 part-time staff — accounting for 65% of costs and materials 10%.
The library is already absorbing a revenue hit, Nurnberger said. A recent U.S. State Department ruling bars nonprofit libraries from serving as passport acceptance facilities, costing East Lake $40,000 a year and leaving the community without a local passport office. She said the library is watching bipartisan legislation that could restore the service.
Commissioners thanked the directors but offered no questions or comment.