DeSantis axes money for South Florida public safety, flood control and parks
Gov. Ron DeSantis has axed funding for South Florida projects to aid public safety and law enforcement, improve drainage and infrastructure, strengthen government cybersecurity defenses, and make improvements in public parks.
The governor’s $510.9 million veto list included more than $18 million in eliminated projects in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
DeSantis defended his veto list as showing fiscal restraint — even as the state’s $116.5 billion budget he signed Thursday comes in at a record high, up 6% from the current year’s spending plan. He touted the budget, for the fiscal year that begins July 1, for making “historic investments in education, public safety, infrastructure, and the environment.”
“It is maddening in a state where there is a surplus of funds, that so many projects meant to better the lives of everyday Floridians could be unceremoniously cut,” state Rep. Daryl Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, said Friday in a statement. “These were projects that would have reduced utility outages to constituents, protected first responders from harmful chemicals, and provided recreational opportunities to children. Unfortunately, these careless vetoes send a message to our communities that we cannot rely on the Governor’s office for relief.”
State Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach, said in a statement he was “appreciative of the governor’s approval of the bulk of local projects I sought, I am very disappointed in the number of those projects both in my district and elsewhere he cut from the multibillion-dollar spending plan.”
Powell said the total in reductions represented “a small drop in the bucket to those wielding the budget axe, but an ocean of dollars to those dependent on the financial help. In a year in which Florida was flush with cash thanks largely to President (Joe) Biden and federal assistance, these communities should have had a higher priority as the governor weighed the projects he chose to financially support.”
The veto list included $4.8 million in public safety-related projects in Broward and Palm Beach counties, including $500,000 for an unmanned aerial response team for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, $498,943 for an incident command vehicle for the West Palm Beach, $250,000 for an Oakland Park fire station, and $500,000 for a Fire Rescue command center and training facility in Dania Beach.
State Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, a south Palm Beach County Republican, said many important local projects survived and are funded in the new budget. “I was basically doing my end-zone happy dance,” after the budget was signed Thursday and money for the Lake Worth Lagoon ($2.4 million) and Bonefish Cove ($500,000) was approved.
Gossett-Seidman said the money would allow the South Florida Water Management District to renourish and rebuild Lake Worth Lagoon from Singer Island to the Boynton Inlet. Small islands will be built in the shallowest part of the lagoon and they’ll be used to help oyster beds, for fishery locations and mangrove placements.
Also approved: $1 million for widening of northwest/southwest Fourth Avenue, $1.4 million for water system improvements, and $300,000 for a drainage project, all in Boca Raton; $250,000 for a lift station rehabilitation in Highland Beach; and money for mental health counseling, services for at-risk students, Alzheimer’s day care, and senior transportation.
State Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Fort Lauderdale, said in a statement Friday that she was pleased about Broward projects that survived. “However, it is deeply disheartening to witness cities like Fort Lauderdale and Lauderhill being vetoed out during the allocation process when the need to help our communities is so great within District 32. It is imperative that we ensure equitable distribution of resources among all cities within the State of Florida.”
Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters slammed DeSantis, saying in a text message that the governor “took it out on Sarasota County” because Gruters endorsed former President Donald Trump instead of DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“Simply because I support his political opponent, the governor chose to punish ordinary Floridians who want better water quality, less traffic congestion and increased for resources for disabled children to grateful employment. It’s mean-spirited acts like this that are defining him here and across the country,” Gruters told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in a statement.
Gossett-Seidman, in her first year in the Legislature, said she didn’t know if politics was at work in deciding what does and doesn’t get approved. “I don’t know. I’m new. I haven’t seen that or experienced it. I would hope not. I think it’s more what the municipalities need,” she said, adding that in the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, Republicans and Democrats work together in an attempt to secure funding.
DeSantis’ vetoes in the two counties included projects sought by Democrats and Republicans, and for some of the most upscale communities, $200,000 in flooding mitigation in Parkland, as well as some of its less-affluent communities, $150,000 for a mental health initiative in West Park.
A database of vetoes created by the editor of The Tributary, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom in Jacksonville, reported that $6.6 million of the vetoed projects were sought by state Sen. Lori Berman, a Palm Beach County Democrat. But some of the same projects were sponsored in the House by Gossett-Seidman and her fellow Republican state Rep. Rick Roth.
A vetoed $250,000 workforce development program was sought by Osgood and state Rep. Chip LaMarca, R-Fort Lauderdale.
Improvements totaling $1.2 million for four parks in the two counties were also vetoed.
Here is a list of South Florida projects the governor vetoed:
Riviera Beach School Readiness Outreach Initiative, $218,000
City of West Park – Mental Health Initiative, $150,000
Dellenbach Foundation – Fresh Start Program, initiative for economic self-sufficiency, $50,000
City of Hallandale Beach – Austin Hepburn Senior Mini Center, $111,006
Voices for Children – At-Risk Youth Advocacy Program, delinquency prevention and diversion in Broward, $100,000
The LAB YMCA Leadership Academy, Palm Beach County, $447,900
Miramar Public Safety Special Operations Center, Phase I, $250,000
Palm Beach County Sheriff, The Unmanned Aerial Response Team, $500,000
West Palm Beach, Incident Command Vehicle, $498,943
Delray Beach Historical Campus, Drainage and Parking, $100,000
Delray Beach, Public Seawall Improvement, $1 million
Indian Trail Improvement District, M-0 Outfall, $500,000
Juno Beach, Universe Boulevard Drainage Improvements, $1 million
Lauderdale Lakes, Drainage Improvement Project, $502,490
Lauderhill, Maple Run Drainage Improvement, $800,000
Old Plantation Water Control District, Pump Stations Rehabilitation and Automation, $450,000
Palm Beach County, Glades Region Infrastructure Improvements, $1.5 million
Palm Beach Shores, Lake Worth Inlet, Singer Island Channel Dredging Project, $1 million
Parkland, Flooding Mitigation, $200,000
South Bay, Stormwater Flood Control and Waterway Management Phase 3, $150,000
South Broward Drainage District, Rehabilitation of Triple 96 inch Metal Drainage Culverts, $262,500
Southwest Ranches, SW 57th Court Drainage Improvements, $340,200
Delray Beach, Lakeview Park Playground Improvements, $100,000
Fort Lauderdale, Carter Park Improvements, $272,500
North Palm Beach, Lakeside Park Bulkhead Replacement, $500,000
Pahokee, King Memorial Park Improvements, $550,000
Plantation, Inclusive Playground, $450,000
Plantation, Regional Utilities Operations Center, hardening, $800,000
Central Palm Beach County, Infrastructure Improvements, $1 million
Palm Beach County, Transportation Disadvantaged Discounted Bus Passes, $ 1 million.
South Bay, SW 11th Avenue Improvements, $250,000
Town of Mangonia Park, Road Repaving, $750,000
Museum of Discovery & Science, Eco Resilience Workforce Development, $750,000
Seven on Seventh – Workforce Development Hubs, (Broward), $250,000
Field for Dreams – West Jupiter Community Group, $80,000
Lauderdale Lakes, Community Center/Hurricane Shelter, $500,000
Mangonia Park, Addie Greene Park Improvements, $250,000
Davie, Fire Safety Mobile Classroom Vehicle, $200,000
Lauderhill, Bunker Gear Contamination, $227,142
Oakland Park, Fire Station, $250,000
Palm Beach, Historic North Fire Station Resilience, Hardening, and Renovation, $437,500
Boynton Beach, Fire Rescue Fire Alerting System Upgrades, $800,000
Dania Beach, Fire Rescue Command Center and Training Facility Phase 1, $500,000
Palm Springs, EOC/Police Department Expansion and Hardening, $1 million
Town of Jupiter, Town Hall Cybersecurity Infrastructure, $102,250
The Center for Arts & Innovation, (Palm Beach County), $750,000
This report includes information from the Orlando Sentinel and the News Service of Florida.