Bruce Ritchie has published an article outlining the breakdown that Gov. Scott has proposed for the new monies generated by Amendment 1. See the original news article at this weblink. Also, you can see our reproduction just below. OSFR is thankful to Bruce Richie and Florida Environments for permission to publish the complete article here.
Governor provides Amendment 1 spending breakdown
Thu, Jan 29, 2015
2015 Legislature, Budgets, Gov. Rick Scott, Land Acquisition, Pollution, Water Supply
By BRUCE RITCHIE
FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTS
Gov. Rick Scott’s office on Thursday provided a breakdown of how the governor requests $757 million provided by Amendment 1 be spent in the 2015-16 state budget.
Amendment 1, approved by voters in November, provides one third of the revenue from an excise tax on real estate transactions to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund (LATF) for a range of water and land conservation programs.
At issue in the 2015 legislative session, which begins March 3, is how to spend the money.
Environmental groups say Amendment 1 should be used to restore the Florida Forever land-buying program, which received at least $300 million a year before its funding was slashed beginning in 2009.
Other groups, including Associated Industries of Florida, say the money should be used to address water supply and water quality issues facing the state.
Here are Scott’s recommendations for the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, plus $82.5 million in general revenue for related water and land programs:
Everglades restoration: $122 million (plus $8 million Alligator Alley bridging)
Everglades land acquisition/Kissimmee River restoration: $20 million
Springs: $50 million
Water supply: $50 million (general revenue)
Land Acquisition/management: $130 million
Land management (former CARL Trust Fund): $67 million
Beaches: $25 million
Debt Service: $177.6 million
Other/continuation: $164.3 million
Keys wastewater improvement: $32.5 million general revenue/$17.5 million LATF
TOTALS: $82.5 million general revenue/$773.4 million Land Acquisition Trust Fund
Details were not immediately available on what is included in the “other/continuation” category.
(Reprinted with permission by Bruce Ritchie and Floridaenvironments.com. Do not copy or redistribute without permission, which can be obtained from bruceBritchie@gmail.com.)
