A.G. Gancarski
A quick look at Rick Scott‘s budget reveals that Northeast Florida for the most part escaped his veto pen, incurring about $20 million of line items, small potatoes compared to other regions of the state.
The big veto, as Tia Mitchell observes, was $5 million for a state contribution toward a training facility for the Jacksonville Armada.
There was a veto for a $2 million appropriation to the North Florida School of Special Education (for lack of a “clear statewide return on investment”), and a $2 million appropriation to Jacksonville University (which raised tuition, as Scott indicates, by 4.8 percent).
As well, $97,000 to the SOAR Outreach Program for the Homeless in Jax and $300,000 for the Florida Children’s Initiative were cut. Lack of an evidence-based process for evaluation was cited in both cases.
Additional vetoes included $1 million for the Fernandina Beach North Fletcher Basin Area, and $1 million for Phase II for the St. Johns River Ferry. The ferry, wrote Scott, already gets state funding in that sum. The North Basin Area, meanwhile, lacks a “clear statewide return on investment.” As does the Nassau County Thomas Creek Flooding Assistance $350,000 allocation
Additionally, $2.5 million for the Youth Soccer Training Facility of NE Florida, $800,000 for the East Orange Park Rec Facility, $500,000 for St Augustine Historic Properties, $500,000 for historic St Augustine material through the University of Florida, and $2 million for the Ponce De Leon Hotel renovation in St. Augustine were all cut.
