County announces budget schedule

Santa Rosa County commissioners will review constitutional officers’  and county department heads’  proposed 2009/2010 budgets beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, and Wednesday, Aug. 5, respectively.

The budget workshops, to be held at the Commission Meeting Room, 6495 Caroline St. in Milton, are open to the public or may be viewed in real time at www.santarosa.fl.gov/bocc/meetings by selecting  “watch and listen to the meeting.”  A link to the full meeting will be available by the next business day for replay at the same Web location.

The first public hearing on the tentative budget is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, with the second and final public hearing planned at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, also in the Commission Meeting Room.

County Administrator Hunter Walker has recommended an operating budget of $74.67 million. Revenue from the general, road and bridge and fine and forfeiture funds is expected to be about $6.8 million less in the coming budget year than it was in 2008-2009, a decline of 8.7 percent. According to a county news release, the reduction is due to property tax reductions, a general downturn in the economy and reductions in virtually all sources of revenue.