What is the Sebastian Inlet District line on your tax bill? What it pays for and what it costs this year

Open your property tax bill and you will see a stack of names: the county, the school board, the City of Sebastian. Further down there is a line many people skip right past. It says Sebastian Inlet District.

It is a real tax, and if you own a home in Sebastian, you pay it. It is also one of the smallest lines on the bill. Here is what it is, what it pays for, and about what it costs.

What the Sebastian Inlet District is

The district says it was created in 1919 by a special act of the Florida Legislature. Its first job was to keep a navigation channel open between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River. It is independent, which means the City of Sebastian and the county do not run it. It has its own elected board and sets its own tax rate.

The district covers parts of two counties, Brevard and Indian River. On our side of the inlet, Vero News reported that the district reaches south into Indian River County as far as State Road 60. That takes in Sebastian, along with Fellsmere, Gifford and parts of Vero Beach.

What the money pays for

Sand drifts along the coast and into the inlet. The district says Florida's Beach and Shore Preservation Act requires it to bypass that sand past the inlet to the beaches downdrift, instead of letting it pile up in the channel.

According to the district, its work includes:

• Dredging the inlet's sand trap and maintaining the channel.
• Moving sand to the beaches south of the inlet, plus beach renourishment and erosion control.
• Emergency dune repair after storms.
• Maintaining the jetties and shoreline.
• Keeping navigation markers in place for boaters.
• Environmental monitoring with marine scientists.

The district's budget package for its Sept. 21, 2026 final hearing lists the big projects for this year. They include construction of Phases 2 and 3 of the North Jetty Project, design and permitting for removing sediment from the inlet tide pool, design and permitting for a supplemental upland truck haul project, and continued geotechnical study along Thomas Shoal. The package budgets $2,350,000 for sand trap dredging and $7,584,500 for construction programs.

This year's rate and budget

Taxes are set in mills. One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. The district's final hearing package proposed a rate of 0.1518 mills for the year that began Oct. 1, 2026. That equals the rolled-back rate, which the district describes as a zero percent increase in the millage rate. Last year's rate was 0.1555 mills.

The total budget in that package is $16,940,428, up 22.04 percent from last year's adopted budget. The package says the budget is comparable to last year's, plus an additional $3.14 million for proposed capital improvement projects. Property taxes are budgeted to bring in $7,771,997. Of that, $1,404,398 comes from Indian River County property owners and $6,367,599 from Brevard.

What does that mean for your house? At 0.1518 mills, every $100,000 of taxable value pays about $15.18. A Sebastian home with $200,000 of taxable value would pay about $30 for the year. At last year's rate, the same value would have paid about $31. If your taxable value went up, your line can still rise a little even though the rate went down.

There is also a ceiling. The district's charter says it may not levy more than 1.5 mills.

Who runs it

Five elected commissioners govern the district. The district says three seats are for Brevard County and two for Indian River County. Property owners who live inside the district vote for commissioners in the November general election in even-numbered years, and they serve staggered four-year terms.

The current board listed in the September budget package is Chairman David Barney, Vice Chairman Lisa Frazier, Secretary/Treasurer Michael J. Rowland, and Commissioners TJ Marshall and John Campbell.

What to do

1. When your bill arrives, find the Sebastian Inlet District line. Check that the rate printed there matches the district's final adopted rate.
2. Do the quick math: your taxable value divided by 1,000, times the rate. That tells you what the inlet costs you.
3. If your taxable value looks wrong, that is a question for the Indian River County Property Appraiser, not the district.
4. If you have questions about the district's budget or projects, call the district office in Indialantic at (321) 724-5175. The same number takes reports of missing or downed navigation markers.
5. Want a say? Commission meetings are public. Meeting dates and notices are posted on the district's website at sitd.us.