County government · Lee County, FL

Lee County's money: where it comes from and where it goes

In the latest recorded fiscal year (ended September 30, 2023), Lee County took in $1.84 billion and spent $2.01 billion.

Latest recorded year: ended September 30, 2023Comes fromGoes to

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Where it comes from

County taxes34%Fees for services (airport, garbage collection)32%Federal tax money12%Fines and other11%State tax money8.6%Local tax money3.5%

What stands out

32%

of Lee County's money comes from fees for services such as water, sewer and parking.A typical U.S. county of 250,000+ people gets 14%.

County taxes34%

Property tax
27%$496 million
Other taxes
6.6%$122 million
What's in other taxesOther selective sales taxes; occupation and business licenses and 4 more
  • Other selective sales taxes$36.7 million
  • Occupation and business licenses$29.8 million
  • Motor fuel taxes$26.3 million
  • Other licenses$17.7 million
  • Public utility taxes$6.8 million
  • Real estate and stock transfer taxes$5.0 million

Amounts are by Census tax category.

Fees for services32%

Fees for services
32%$582 million
What's in fees for servicesAirport; garbage collection and 11 more
  • Airport$202 million
  • Garbage collection$133 million
  • Other service charges$72.3 million
  • Sewer$59.5 million
  • Water$56.3 million
  • Tolls on roads and bridges$35.3 million
  • Electric power$11.0 million
  • Parks and recreation$3.9 million
  • Transit fares$3.4 million
  • Parks, land and natural resources$3.1 million
  • Road charges$747 thousand
  • Other government-run businesses$362 thousand
  • Parking$330 thousand

Amounts are by Census type of charge.

Federal tax money12%

Grants from Washington, paid for by the federal taxes residents also pay.

From the federal government
12%$223 million

State tax money8.6%

Money the state passes on, paid for by the state taxes residents also pay.

From the state
8.6%$158 million

Local tax money3.5%

Money passed on by the county or other local governments.

From other local governments
3.5%$63.7 million

Fines and other11%

Interest, rents and other
10%$191 million
Fines
0.4%$6.5 million

Where it goes

Roads, transit and parking27%Running the government and other costs25%Police, fire, courts and jails17%Water, sewer, trash and utilities16%Parks, recreation and libraries4.8%All other spending9.1%

What stands out

27%

of Lee County's spending goes to roads, transit and parking.A typical U.S. county of 250,000+ people spends 6.3%.

Spending by category100%

Roads, transit and parking
27%$550 million
What's in roads, transit and parkingAirports; roads and highways and 2 more
  • Airports$378 million
  • Roads and highways$118 million
  • Public transit$38.4 million
  • Toll roads and bridges$15.8 million
Running the government and other costs
25%$502 million
What's in running the government and other costsFinance, tax collection and budgeting; other and not broken out and 2 more
  • Finance, tax collection and budgeting$313 million
  • Other and not broken out$137 million
  • Central staff services (personnel, purchasing, technology)$35.6 million
  • Government buildings$16.2 million
Police, fire, courts and jails
17%$347 million
What's in police, fire, courts and jailsPolice; prisons and jails and 4 more
  • Police$202 million
  • Prisons and jails$81.6 million
  • Courts and legal services$38.7 million
  • Inspections and regulation$17.0 million
  • Fire protection$6.0 million
  • Probation, parole and other corrections$2.1 million
Water, sewer, trash and utilities
16%$329 million
What's in water, sewer, trash and utilitiesGarbage and solid waste; sewer systems and 1 more
  • Garbage and solid waste$142 million
  • Sewer systems$108 million
  • Water supply$78.9 million
Parks, recreation and libraries
4.8%$95.6 million
What's in parks, recreation and librariesParks and recreation and libraries
  • Parks and recreation$56.9 million
  • Libraries$38.7 million
Health and hospitals
3.7%$74.6 million
What's in health and hospitalsPublic health and hospitals
  • Public health$70.3 million
  • Hospitals$4.4 million
Interest on debt
2.6%$52.1 million
What's in interest on debtInterest on general debt; interest on water supply debt and 1 more
  • Interest on general debt$45.0 million
  • Interest on water supply debt$4.8 million
  • Interest on public transit debt$2.3 million
Environment and natural resources
1.4%$28.0 million
What's in environment and natural resourcesNatural resources, farming and conservation
  • Natural resources, farming and conservation$28.0 million
Housing and community development
0.7%$14.9 million
Social services
0.4%$9.0 million
What's in social servicesOther public welfare
  • Other public welfare$9.0 million
Sent to other local governments
0.2%$5.0 million
What's in sent to other local governmentsSent to the state government and sent to local governments: other and not broken out
  • Sent to the state government$5.0 million
  • Sent to local governments: other and not broken out$6 thousand
Sources and moreWhere these numbers come from and what they cover

Lee County. U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, individual unit file, fiscal year ended September 30, 2023.

What this covers. The money of Lee County itself. Other governments that serve the same area (the city, county, school district and state) are separate and not included. Borrowing, transfers between a government's own funds, and pension trust funds are not counted as revenue.