Martin County cites sales tax, Florida Forever and FDAX partnerships as leverage for land protection; Everglades funding also affirmed

Martin County environmental staff described how a local sales tax and outside partnerships are accelerating land protection work, and provided an update on recent state and federal conservation funding.

John Mail said the newly available local sales tax revenue created a dedicated funding source for acquisitions and easements under the county's Martin County Forever program. He described partnering with state programs such as Florida Forever and a program the transcript identifies as "FDAX" (rural and family lands program), which he said favors easement proposals with 50% matching partners.

"FDAX's marching orders are to rank and award the easements that have 50% funding partners first," Mail said, and he added that the county's combination of local sales tax and external partners puts it in a strong position for funding priority.

Mail said the county has used easements to preserve working lands when purchase is not preferred: purchasing development rights is less expensive than acquiring full title and allows families to keep managing land while protecting its conservation values.

He also said the Board has approved funding agreements for three easements (staff did not provide ordinance or resolution numbers on the podcast) and that additional easement and acquisition efforts are in the next funding cycle.

On broader restoration finance, Mail said the state budget passed by the legislature includes more than $500 million for Everglades restoration pending the governor's signature and that a federal appropriations transportation subcommittee proposed FY27 funding at about $425 million — roughly consistent with recent years. Mail said the Integrated Delivery Schedule (IDS) did not show dramatic adverse impacts to shovel‑ready Indian River Lagoon South projects, which county staff view as good news for local restoration timelines.

Next steps: the Environmental Lands Oversight Committee will review and score 10 candidate properties in June for possible inclusion in county programs; staff will continue to pursue state and federal matching funds for projects and easements.