A sampling of vetoes included money for such things as meningitis immunizations for children, the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Broward County, a fetal-alcohol clinic in Sarasota and a mobile-health unit in rural Gadsden County.
government budgets
Flagler Clerk Gail Wadsworth Tries a Hail Mary As Courts Take Yet Another Budget Hit
The $31 million statewide budget cut in clerks of court’s budgets translates to a loss of $90,000 to Flagler County’s court system, and up to three jobs, adding to successive cuts going back to 2008 that Clerk Gail Wadsworth calls unsustainable.
Florida Lawmakers Gloomily Expect $2 Billion Shortfall: The State Week in Review
As Florida Legislature budget committees met this week, gloom set in again. Medicaid costs are rising, schools need to find money, tax revenues are lagging. Gambling-industry lobbyists had a better week.
County Property Values Fall Another 14%; Palm Coast: -12%; Tax Rates Heading Up
The declines, for the fourth year in a row, will define to what extent local governments must either raise taxes or cut services as they prepare next year’s budgets. Governments have little room to cut anymore, short of vitals services.
How Slashing Water Management Districts’ Budget 25% Endangers Our Way of Life
Allan Milledge, a former water management district chairman, asks: Do you want to jeopardize protection of our rivers, lakes, springs, and wetlands and the protection of our water supply to save an average less than $20 dollars per household per year?
But Should They Be Paid? Flagler School Board Members Defend Their Salaries
A Florida Senate proposal would replace school board members’ salaries with a $100 per-meeting stipend. Retirement and health benefits would be eliminated, too. Savings would exceed $10 million a year.
Tax Wave Hits Flagler Beach First: Rate Going Up 22% (But It’s Not As Bad As It Sounds)
In Flagler Beach as elsewhere, big increases in property tax rates will be offset by big decreases in property values, resulting in a wash for most taxpayers.
How the Oil Slick Is Fouling Florida’s Government Budgets–And What To Do About It
The oil spill is Florida’s 9/11. People won’t die. A way of life will. The Florida Legislature should be in crisis mode, not in recess, anticipating what to do next.
Flagler Beach Police Get 3-Year Contract, No Raises
The 10 percent-a-year raises of the police rank and file’s previous contract give way to realities of shrinking government budgets and stingy taxpayers.