TaxWatch Eyes Budget Projects

By The News Service of Florida

After lawmakers late Monday passed a $115.1 billion state budget for next fiscal year, Florida TaxWatch raised questions over about $1 billion in the spending plan.

The Tallahassee-based non-profit group on Tuesday released its annual “turkey” report of questionable spending items that it believes should get a close look from Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has line-item veto power on the budget, which will take effect July 1.

“With this report, we are simply holding legislators and the (legislative) process accountable for the hard-earned taxpayer dollars that they are spending each year,” said Florida TaxWatch Executive Vice President Jeff Kottkamp, a former lieutenant governor and lawmaker.

The TaxWatch report cited 242 budget items that collectively total $416.1 million. TaxWatch singled out those items based on how they got into the budget, rather than trying to evaluate the merits of the projects. As examples, the projects included $14.8 million for the University of North Florida’s Hicks Honors College Academic Building; $5 million for Florida A&M College of Law infrastructure in Orange County; $1 million to revitalize Camp Welaka in Martin County; $500,000 to replace the Melbourne Front Street dock; and $125,000 for the Miami-Dade Military Museum and Memorial.

The report also targeted for “extra scrutiny” an additional $799.5 million that would go to such things as water-related projects and housing.