A.G. Gancarski
On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott released his 2016 “Florida First” budget. Six pages of projects didn’t make the cut, including many Northeast Florida priorities.
A big loss for downtown development in Jacksonville: the Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority Urban Homesteading Pilot Program did not get the $1 million requested. Neither did the St. Johns River Ferry allocation get its million.
Also on the chopping block were Guiding Stars of Duval County’s $500,000 allocation; $250,000 for the Jacksonville Arboretum’s Stormwater Improvement; and $300,000 for the Beaver Street Enterprise Center, a Lake Ray request.
St. Augustine West Augustine sewer expansion’s $200,000 also didn’t make the cut. Likewise, the $1.5 million widening of Old Dixie Highway in Nassau County will have to wait, as well as $250,000 for the Alcazar Hotel – Lightner Museum Restoration in St. Augustine.
The biggest hit of all, though: $2 million vetoed from the North Florida School for Special Education, a school for the developmentally disabled.
Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns County might have felt the wrath of the veto pen. However, Clay County was spared.
Senator Rob Bradley noted it was a “great year for Clay County. All Clay priorities survived the veto pen.”
