Manatee County Commission approves tentative budget of more than $627 million

The Manatee County Commission voted unanimously to approve the tentative millage rate and budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

During a first public hearing Monday evening, the commission approved the more than $627 million net budget for the 2017-18 year. A millage rate at 7.0435, which includes .6109 mills for the unincorporated municipal services tax, was also tentatively approved.

The increased revenue in the upcoming budget includes the projected 8.6 percent increase of property revenues.

Before opening the hearing to public comment, County Administrator Ed Hunzeker said the board had found resolutions to the threatened budget cuts for Turning Points, the Palmetto Youth Center and Keep Manatee Beautiful.

Mary Jean Yon, executive director of Keep Florida Beautiful, spoke of its local affiliate, calling Keep Manatee Beautiful a “rockstar.”

In 2016, according to Yon, Keep Manatee Beautiful was first in the state for the number of miles of shoreline cleaned, second for number of miles of roadway and number of clean-up projects and third for the number of volunteers.

Robert Longworth, chair for cleanups at Keep Manatee Beautiful, thanked the board for allocating the full funding for the non-profit, saying that it was saving beautiful Manatee County from turning into a garbage dump.

“I can’t even begin to tell you what we pick up out there,” Longworth said.

The commission will have a second and final budget meeting at 6:30 p.m. next Monday, Sept. 25, in the first floor commission chambers of the county administrative center, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

In a subsequent hearing, the commission did not vote to approve modifications to the Infrastructure Sales Tax Project List, but instead voted to continue the meeting until next Monday, after the second budget hearing. The vote was 5-1 to continue the hearing with Commissioner Stephen Jonsson voting against.

Commissioner Priscilla Whisenant Trace was the first to voice concerns about voting to approve the proposed changes without more details as to why the sheriff’s office’s new helicopter would be $900,000 and more details about the $3 million slated for artificial turf for athletic fields.

“I have to see the numbers,” Trace said. “It probably is warranted, but I need to see the numbers.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2017 at 9:30 PM with the headline "Manatee County Commission approves tentative budget of more than $627 million."