Highlands County officials are smart to move quickly on State Road 8 improvements. ...more

October 4, 2007

If you're dissatisfied with state or local taxes, today's your opportunity to vent. The Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission will listen to the public from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the 26th floor of the County Center in Tampa. ...more

October 3, 2007

Lawmakers have returned to Tallahassee to slash the $72 billion state budget by $1.1 billion and reconsider no-fault auto insurance in Florida. Here's the schedule: ...more

October 3, 2007

SEBRING –– Old State Road 8 is too narrow, too bumpy and, in some places, sometimes under water. For Highlands County's plan to reconstruct this road over the next year, the state giveth $2.3 million. County officials are hoping the state, facing a billion-dollar revenue shortfall, won't taketh away. The fate of this project rides on the special 10-day session of the Florida Legislature starting tomorrow. Legislators and Gov. Charlie Christ need to chop $1.1 billion in spending to balance the budget. Highlands County Engineer Ramon Gavarrete said the reconstruction of Old State Road 8 isn't expected to get the "ax." But, he said, nothing will be certain until the Legislature finishes its budget cutting. ...more

October 2, 2007

The state's brain trust of economists meets regularly to assess Floridians' spending habits and estimate how much revenue is coming in to state coffers. The news in early August was bleak: The $72 billion spending plan approved for the fiscal year that began July 1 would come up about $1.1 billion short, largely due to the slowdown in the once-red-hot housing market. Other collections have also been lighter than expected, from the sales taxes on purchases related to homes to corporate income taxes. State lawmakers return to the capital this week in a special session to slice and dice. A balanced budget is a constitutional requirement in Florida. It's not an easy process. Lawmakers already pushed back the session when House and Senate leaders decided they were too far apart to waste time in Tallahassee at a cost to taxpayers of about $40,000 a day. The session is scheduled from Wednesday through Oct. 12. The House, Senate and Gov. Charlie Crist are staking out their positions. Here is a look at what may be in store in major areas of spending. ...more

September 30, 2007

Two years ago, with Florida awash in tax dollars generated by a sizzling housing market, a nonpartisan public policy group forecast that when housing growth inevitably declined, the drop in tax revenue would mean the state would struggle to provide adequate services to its residents. ...more

September 30, 2007

SEBRING — The ruling of a circuit court judge has removed the property tax relief proposal from the Jan. 29 ballot, but the Legislature has time to reverse that action. ...more

September 26, 2007

After a series of budget workshops, it took under 10 minutes for the City Council to approve New Port Richey's budget for fiscal 2008 during a hearing Thursday night. ...more

September 21, 2007

With lawmakers planning to cut $1.5 billion in state spending, Hillsborough County leaders are concerned they could be on the chopping block again. ...more

September 17, 2007