Governor announces $311 million for rural Florida infrastructure in Sebring

At a ceremony in Sebring, the governor announced $311 million in state infrastructure awards targeted at rural Florida communities and outlined policy priorities tied to the funding.

The governor said the state will award $3,000,000 to the Sebring Airport Authority to demolish and replace the existing stormwater system and related infrastructure at the Sebring Regional Airport and Multimodal Logistics Center, and $22,000,000 to the city of Avon Park to assess, evaluate, repair and potentially rebuild its sanitary sewer collection system. He said the total across projects announced that day was $311,000,000.

Why it matters: The grants are aimed at hardening water and wastewater systems, expanding shelter capacity and supporting emergency preparedness in smaller counties that were hard hit by recent storms. The governor framed the spending as part of a broader strategy to accelerate infrastructure work now — rather than shelving it until later decades — and to concentrate help on rural residents and fiscally constrained counties.

The governor tied the awards to other fiscal priorities, saying an accelerated debt‑repayment program implemented during his term has reduced the state’s long‑term debt and saved “almost $2,000,000,000” in principal and interest. He also credited recent legislative reforms with softening insurance markets and producing rebates from some carriers.

On property taxes, the governor said local property‑tax collections rose from about $32 billion in 2019 to $56 billion and announced he is working on a ballot measure to deliver property‑tax relief for Florida residents, emphasizing protections for primary homeowners and full reimbursement in his budget for 32 fiscally constrained rural counties, including Highlands County.

The governor also raised concerns about artificial intelligence and large data centers, saying the state plans an "AI bill of rights" to guard against harms to children and communities and to prevent companies from “passing off cost to consumers” or taking local water supplies for hyperscale centers.

Alex Kelly, the state’s secretary of commerce, thanked the governor and said the projects will support workforce readiness and regional economic development. Kelly highlighted the Sebring Airport as an emerging intermodal logistics hub and referenced other county projects he said would catalyze job growth.

Details of awards mentioned by the governor included funds for wastewater and water system hardening, stormwater channel widening and shelter upgrades. He said smaller rural grants totaling $13,500,000 would be awarded through 11 small rural infrastructure grants to communities with critical needs.

Next steps: The governor said applications were solicited and projects will move forward; ceremonial checks were not presented onstage because of the volume of awards and will be arranged through staff. No formal vote or county approvals were recorded at the event; awards were presented as executive announcements.

Quotes: “I'm joined here by our secretary of commerce, Alex Kelly, and your local representative, Kaylee Tuck,” the governor said, introducing officials and framing the event as focused on rural Florida. “We're gonna award $3,000,000 to the Sebring Airport Authority to demolish and replace the existing storm water system,” he added in announcing a project central to the Sebring site.

Ending: The event concluded with a short address from Secretary Kelly and the governor noting that staff would distribute ceremonial materials for recipients. The announcements mark the state’s immediate allocation of surplus and federal recovery funds to a set of localized infrastructure priorities.