St. Johns County recommends budget $449M lower than previous year

With a billion-dollar budget, it’s no surprise to see lots of numbers when you break it down. And St. Johns County’s $1.2 billion recommended budget certainly isn’t a small number.

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But neither is the $449 million drop from last year’s budget, which was $1.6 billion.

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The county’s board of commissioners is moving forward with the recommended budget, which includes around $140 million in state and federal grant money cuts.

Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin dug through the recommended budget. These are some of the highlights of what’s being cut:

Emergency Management and Disaster Funds cut:

• 2024 approved budget: $54,707,934
• 2025 recommended budget: $11,285,610

Growth Management funds dropping

• 2024 approved budget: $47,397,015
• 2025 recommended budget: $33,947,673

Cuts for housing and redevelopment funds

• 2024 approved budget: $16,018,192
• 2025 recommended budget: $9,025,727

Transportation money cuts

• Transit System Fund: $8,062,269 less than last year
• Transportation Trust Fund: $86,694,799 less than last year

Utility Service Fund cuts

• 2024 approved budget: $403,733,328
• 2025 recommended budget: $199,963,570

The budget cuts come as the county’s recommending millions more for its general fund. It includes around $10 million more for the sheriff’s office and around $4 million more for offices like the tax collector and property appraiser.

The budget talks come a day after Jacksonville revealed its 9% budget increase from last year. The recommended budget for St. Johns County is a 27% drop.

RELATED: St. Johns County receives $26.5M to support five major community projects

But the budget still isn’t final, county commissioners are still considering changes. Among the notable ones talked about today, is higher pay for deputies. The sheriff’s office, after it was recommended by Commissioner Christian Whitehurst, suggested to the county including a $3,000 increase in their starting pay. It would bring it from $55,000 to $58,000 a year.

The county is planning to adopt the budget sometime after the start of September. It’ll have two public meetings to go over any final changes that might be made. Right now, those are scheduled for September 3rd and September 17th.

Anyone wanting to take a look at the county’s breakdown of its recommended budget can do so by clicking the link here.

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