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County manager details state budget wins and items to watch for next session
Summary
County Manager David Krause briefed commissioners on the recently signed state budget, outlining line items and items of interest to Columbia County including appropriations for local projects, employee raises and topics to monitor in the next legislative session.
County Manager David Krause updated the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners on elements of the recently signed state budget and items the county will watch in the next legislative session.
Krause told the board that the Jobs Growth Grant Fund was funded at $25,000,000 and the Rural Infrastructure Fund received $17,000,000 in the enacted budget. He said county officials secured $1,900,000 for the county’s utility authority to continue development in Ellisville and $1,150,000 for the Suwannee Valley Tower project. He also reported that state employees will receive a 2% pay increase and that the enacted budget includes a $1,600,000 line item for the sheriff’s department to supplement deputies’ and correctional staff salaries.
Krause said a proposed change to the statutory definition of a “fiscally constrained county” did not pass and described that as collateral damage from disagreements between legislative leaders. He said other matters the county will monitor next session include proposals related to property taxes (including the future of homestead exemptions), an item involving the Lakeshore Hospital Authority, and discussion of parameters for road construction and bridge maintenance.
Krause reminded commissioners that the first committee week of the next session begins Oct. 6 and that the county will continue tracking proposed bills that could affect rural counties.
The report was delivered as an informational update; no formal action was taken during the briefing.
