Manatee County Budget Workshop

The public is invited to a workshop on Thursday, June 16 to discuss community priorities in Manatee County Government’s budget for the next fiscal year.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the first-floor chambers of Manatee County Administrative Center, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. The discussion is a great chance for Manatee residents to let Manatee Board of County Commissioners know which taxpayer-funded programs are most important to the community.

Two additional public hearings will be held in September, before the final 2011-12 budget is adopted.

On June 1, County Administrator Ed Hunzeker presented the Board with an annual net budget that is $16.8 million less than the current year, reduces property taxes and avoids major service reductions to the community. If the budget is approved, the County budget will have been slashed more than $137 million over the past four years.

Budget reductions for Fiscal 2011-12 are largely a result of property tax revenues which are expected to diminish by almost $8 million. The broad-scale cutbacks have required County officials to make the difficult decision to reduce the County workforce by 54 positions.

To soften the blow and to avoid major service reductions, Hunzeker and Financial Management Department officials recommended to the County Commission a three-year plan to use a budget stabilization fund. The Commission’s prudent financial management enabled the County to create the fund during more robust years to buffer against economic downturns like the present.

The recommendations do not stretch any program to a point at which it could not continue. Hunzeker’s zero-based budgeting approach requires each Manatee County service and program to be considered in a series of decision units. Top priorities are funded first, and greater levels of service are approved if funding is available.

For more information on Manatee County’s proposed budget, visit www.mymanatee.org/budget