Florida School Districts Borrow Record $1.4 Billion in Short-Term Debt as Enrollment Falls

Florida's public school districts have issued $1.4 billion in short-term debt this year to cover operating expenses, the highest level on record, Bloomberg reported, citing LSEG data through Oct. 2. The figure marks a 62% increase over all of 2025. The instruments, tax-anticipation notes, cover spending before tax receipts arrive. Fitch Ratings senior director Michael Rinaldi said rising reliance can signal "underlying liquidity or credit stress" and "a structural budget gap." Enrollment has slid since 2023, eroding per-pupil state allocations. School choice scholarships, expanded by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023, cost roughly $4.41 billion in the 2025-2026 school year, producing a temporary $47 million public school funding gap in the prior year, per Florida Department of Education audit. Ratings pressure is mounting. Over the past year, S&P downgrades and negative actions on districts outnumbered upgrades roughly three to one. S&P revised Miami-Dade and Broward outlooks to negative in May; Fitch moved Hillsborough County's to negative in September. Hillsborough used tax-anticipation notes for the first time in July.