Brevard County · November 3, 2026
In 2016, Brevard voters approved a ½-cent sales tax dedicated to lagoon restoration. The 2026 ballot asks whether that existing funding stream continues for another ten years.
140 complete92 in progress171 not yet complete or in progress
Audit the claims in the Evidence Library ↗News & Events
Timely headlines and events worth attending. Community events are hosted by the organizations named on each listing; listings are informational and do not imply endorsement.
Featured news
Brevard County has posted its October 2026 lagoon progress report. It records completed community projects, homeowner projects and sewer conversions separately, and updates construction progress at Cocoa Beach Golf muck capping and Eau Gallie dredging.
News · Public comment
Source: Federal Aviation Administration (Blue Origin New Glenn project page)
The FAA is accepting comments on a draft environmental assessment for proposed increased New Glenn operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Its listed deadline is October 30, 2026. The October 22 public meeting has ended; review materials and comment instructions remain available under docket FAA-2026-9841.
Event · Election / Civic
Happening now
Brevard County early-voting sites listed by the Supervisor of Elections
Host: Brevard County Supervisor of Elections
October 19–31: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday 8 a.m.–4 p.m., Eastern Time. Any Brevard early-voting site may be used. This is a voting period with daily opening hours, not a continuous all-day event. Check the official site for locations, changes and acceptable ID.
Event · Election / Civic
Assigned precinct polling places
Host: Brevard County Supervisor of Elections
Election Day for the 2026 General Election, including the Save Our Indian River Lagoon half-cent sales tax renewal question. Polls are open 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Eastern at assigned precinct polling places. Hosted by the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections.
What did we get?
Big numbers first. Definitions, caveats and source records are one click deeper. Delivery counts come from the County’s October 2026 progress report; the plan-status snapshot is dated July 24, 2026; money and modeled nutrient figures are dated August 17, 2026.
Three separate measures. They describe different work and are not added together. See the October delivery record ↗
The plan has evolved over time; this is not the original 2016 project count or a statement that all 403 were scheduled for completion by 2026. The October 2026 report does not provide a synchronized full project-status register, so this snapshot is retained as dated history and no new remainder is calculated from it.
Revenue collected, actual expenditures, funding associated with projects in progress, outside grants and modeled environmental benefits are different categories. They are not combined, and no arithmetic residual is shown as available cash. The latest quarterly financial tables listed by the County are dated August 21, 2026; they are not October figures.
In the July 24, 2026 plan-status snapshot, 171 projects in the adopted plan were outside the completed and in-progress categories and another 92 were in design, under contract or under construction. The County’s October 2026 report adds newer delivery counts but not a synchronized status register, so these snapshot figures are dated rather than updated. The renewal question is not whether to begin a new restoration program. It is whether Brevard continues the existing effort long enough to finish it.
Is it working?
District mapping increased from 9,924 hectares in 2023 to 17,042 hectares in 2025. That is a 72% gain between those mapping years, not a return to historical extent or a measurement of SOIRL’s contribution.
Measured · 2023–2025 · supported with qualification See the measurement ↗The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administratively closed the Atlantic-coast Florida manatee Unusual Mortality Event on March 14, 2025. The retrospectively defined event period ran December 1, 2020 through April 30, 2022; its 1,392 cases comprise 1,255 carcasses and 137 rescues, not 1,392 deaths. FWC reports that Atlantic-coast mortality returned to expected levels; habitat concerns and monitoring continue. The event period and the closure date are different, and closure does not establish full habitat or forage recovery.
Administrative · closed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; reported by FWC See the FWC record ↗System-wide improvement does not mean every basin improved equally, every project performed exactly as modeled, or restoration alone caused every ecological gain.
Recovery is measured by multiple indicators over time Audit the recovery evidence ↗Central lagoon areas remain troubled. Legacy muck remains. Storms can reverse gains. Recovery is a reason to finish the work, not a reason to stop measuring it.
The pivotal question
The next vote is not about starting lagoon restoration. It is about whether Brevard continues funding an unfinished restoration program.
Septic-to-sewer systems, wastewater plants, stormwater infrastructure and muck-removal projects can spend years in design and permitting before construction begins.
Make it local
Choose your area to see the project records, status, category, costs and source documents currently indexed by the Evidence Library. The map is an indexed subset, not the full County register; the complete County project plan and dashboard ↗ lists every plan project.
Where did my money go?
A wastewater plant, septic-to-sewer system, stormwater project or muck dredging operation is not bought off a shelf. Projects move through engineering, permitting, bidding, contracting and construction before money is finally paid out. The in-progress category is not established here as a legally committed total.
The central question
Brevard already has projects engineered, permitted, contracted and under construction. Renewal continues the dedicated funding stream supporting that work. A NO vote does not automatically create a better replacement plan or another source of money.
Accountability? Absolutely. Starting over? That’s a different choice.
Before you vote
Projects completed in the current County snapshot.
Separate collected, paid, committed and remaining funds instead of treating them as one number.
Some important indicators have. Others remain weak. The honest answer is improving, not recovered.
92 projects are in progress and 171 are outside complete/in-progress status.
The existing half-cent levy expires December 31, 2026 (the vote is November 3, 2026), and no renewed revenue stream replaces it. Existing balances and contracts do not vanish, but no replacement plan or funding source appears automatically.
See the exact ballot and both outcomes →The actual decision
Five-minute conclusion
