Leigh Hinton won the open District 2 seat and Rachael Bassett held District 4. Melbourne's charter amendment failed by 210 votes, and Amendment 3 passed statewide.

Leigh Hinton won Melbourne’s open District 2 seat on the City Council on Tuesday, and Rachael Bassett kept her District 4 seat. Both won by about 11 points.

Voters narrowly rejected the city’s only charter amendment. It failed by 210 votes out of 26,444 cast.

The figures are unofficial. They come from the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections’ results page, with all 21 precincts that vote on Melbourne races reporting. The results stay unofficial until the county canvassing board certifies them.

The council races

Each council member represents a district, but the whole city votes for every seat, the City Council page says. That is why each race drew more than 26,000 votes.

Race Winner Votes Runner-up Votes
District 2 Leigh Hinton, 56.50% 14,963 Milo Zonka, 43.50% 11,518
District 4 Rachael Bassett, 55.24% 14,405 John Bruce, 44.76% 11,671

Hinton won by 3,445 votes. Mark LaRusso holds District 2 now, according to the city’s council page. He was not on the ballot.

Bassett, the current District 4 member, won by 2,734 votes. Hunter Benninger qualified unopposed for District 6, so that race was not on the ballot.

The charter amendment fails

Ordinance 2026-25 would have let the City Council hand the duties of the board of adjustment to the zoning commission. The city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment hears appeals over how the zoning code is enforced and can grant variances from it. The result:

  • No: 13,327 votes, 50.40%
  • Yes: 13,117 votes, 49.60%

The gap is about 0.8% of the votes cast. That is too wide for an automatic recount. Florida law orders one only when a ballot measure is approved or rejected by one-half of 1% or less, under section 102.141 of the state statutes.

With the amendment rejected, the council cannot move those duties to the zoning commission.

Amendment 3 passes statewide

Amendment 3, the bigger homestead exemption, passed. It won 61.98% of the statewide vote, the Florida Division of Elections’ Election Watch shows. It needed 60%. Brevard County voted 61% yes.

That matters for City Hall. The city estimates the amendment will cut about $10.1 million from its fiscal 2028 operating budget and about $4.9 million more in fiscal 2029, as we reported in October. The city has said it would look at raising other taxes, fees or charges, cutting service levels, or both.

Under the city’s summary of the amendment:

  • the homestead exemption rises from $50,000 to $150,000 on Jan. 1, 2027
  • it rises to $250,000 on Jan. 1, 2028
  • school taxes are left out of the bigger exemption
  • the yearly cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property drops from 10% to 5%

The other countywide questions

Brevard voters renewed all three local taxes on the ballot, the county results show:

Question Yes No
Save Our Indian River Lagoon half-cent sales tax 75.58% 24.42%
School Board 1-mill property tax for teacher and staff pay 71.52% 28.48%
School Board half-cent sales tax for facilities, security and technology 69.13% 30.87%

Turnout in Brevard was 60.79%, with 271,885 ballots cast by 447,257 registered voters.

What it means for you

  • Homeowners: if you own and live in your Melbourne home, your homestead exemption from city and county taxes grows in January. Your school taxes will not change because of it. Our property taxes guide shows what you pay now.
  • Renters, second-home owners and businesses: the bigger exemption does not apply to you. The lower 5% cap on yearly assessment increases does.
  • City services: watch the fiscal 2028 budget, which starts Oct. 1, 2027. That is the first one the city says the amendment will hit.
  • Zoning appeals and variances still go to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The City Council meets next on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at City Hall, for the final votes on The Pines. Our preview of that vote has the details. The ballot itself is still on our voting page.