By TERRY BROWN
terry.brown@mystjohnssun.com
Cutting more than $100 million from the 2007 budget amount, County Commissioners Ben Rich, Tom Manuel and Ron Sanchez listened to details of the proposed 2008 county budget Tuesday. The budget news was welcomed by the trio who had pledged to tighten the county’s spending habits during Manuel’s and Sanchez’s fall campaigns. Absent from Tuesday’s meeting were Cyndi Stevenson, who was out of the country, and Jim Bryant, called away due to urgent family matters.
Presentations
Money Matters
2008 proposed budget: Doug Timms, director of management and budget for the county, presented a $501.9 million budget to the commission. The figure represents a 7.7 percent drop from 2007’s budget. Timms said substantial savings in cutting the budget came from the elimination of 83 county jobs. He said most of the jobs eliminated were already vacant.
Timms said the proposed 2008 budget anticipates collecting $4.9 million less in property taxes than this year’s budget. Recreation took the hardest smack on the chin, incurring a 13.9 percent reduction in its proposed operating budget for next year.
William Bartram and A1A grants: The commission accepted unanticipated revenue of $600,000 from the National Scenic Byway and the Florida Department of Transportation for the William Bartram Scenic and Historic Highway. Commissioners also accepted $20,000 for Scenic and Historic A1A for a corridor management update plan.
Mariposa looming on the horizon: The commission adopted a motion to have the county attorney initiate conflict resolution procedures with his counterpart in Putnam County over Mariposa, a new development that will change the face of East Palatka and encroach upon the Hastings area.
New points of view
Appointments
New faces: The board approved several new appointments and re-appointments to county boards and agencies.
*Health and Human Services Advisory Council — Lynn Brueske-Walton and Thomas Myrick
*Adjustment and Appeals Board — Ted Meade
*Industrial Development Authority — William Brown
*Land Acquisition and Management Program — Lee Gerald, Mark Middlebrook, Sarah Owen, and Nicholas McAuliffe
*Planning and Zoning Agency — Kim Oglesby, Dick Williams, and Hiram Hanson.
THE NEXT COUNTY COMMISSION MEETING
When: 9 a.m., Tuesday, July 24
Where: County Auditorium, 4020 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine
