Okeechobee County Commissioners started to review a proposed county budget of $169.3 million.
The spending would be down $20.8 million. The general fund spending would be increased by $20.1 million.
The taxable values in the county are up from $3.98 billion to $4.51 billion or $531 million.
The existing tax rate of 7.9 mills would generate 13.3% more in property taxes or $35.7 million.
The roll back rate would be just under 7.4 mills and would collect $31.7 million in property taxes.
The county proposed a garbage rate hike of $15.48, a fire rescue assessment increase of $8.25 and an EMS assessment increase of $12.22.
The proposed budget calls for a 3% salary hike for all county employees with up to 2% merit pay hike.
Capital improvement projects listed would cost $11.5 million.
Fire Rescue plans to purchase a brush truck and an ambulance and spend $300,000 to design improvements to station 4 in Fort Drum.
Three storage buildings for the county are planned at a cost of $600,000.
Assistant County Fire Chief Justin Hazellief said mosquito activity is picking up and they plan to start spraying soon.
The health department announced they have partnered with the Treasure Coast Food Bank to bring a family market program to Okeechobee. That means additional food distributions across the county.
The Okeechobee County Narcotics Task Force and the Florida Gaming Commission executed a warranted the Orioles Bar at 1855 SW 53rd Street.
The sheriff’s office said they have heard multiple complaints from the community about the use of slot machines and poker.
The Orioles Facebook Page showed multiple occasions of people utilizing slot machines and cashing out vouchers provided by the machines, according the sheriff.
The sheriff noted this is illegal. They have previously enforced this law at Okeechobee smoke shops and convenience stores.
The latest search led to the seizure of six slot machines.
The investigation is ongoing and they are going to apply for arrest warrants, the sheriff added.
The OCSO reported there are other locations where illegal slot machine use is going on and said they will be stopping those activities in the near future.
Glades County is hiring. The county has eight current positions open to the public.
They are looking for an administrative assistant, an emergency operations specialist who is the 9-1-1 Addressing coordinator, a maintenance technician, a public safety Lieutenant, a paramedic with fire fighter certification, one parks and recreation groundskeeper, and a part time veteran services officer.
You can learn about these positions at myglades.com
The South Florida Water Management District heard a report about the improvement of Lake Okeechobee health.
Staff said the drawdown has met its goals and has cleared out much of the water.
Cassandra Armstrong said they expect no problems with algae blooms in the lake this summer.
Governing Board member Ben Butler asked for an update on herbicide spraying at a future meeting.
He said he supports judicial use of chemicals and wants the SFWMD to be a leader when it comes to spray policy.
Highlands County began its budget workshops and proposed a $116 million operating budget this year.
Commissioner Don Elwell had concerns about the increase in spending. He noted they spent $68 million back in 2019 and have been going up since.
The sheriff proposed a 14.4 percent budget hike this year, asking for an additional $5.7 million. They are expanding the county jail. The sheriff requested $45.4 million this year compared to $39.7 million last year.
“Instead of holding our budget to five percent, we are $10 million up. We need to be much lower. We just need to get more realistic with these numbers. Otherwise, were in for big trouble. Were asking for more for fire assessments, the millage is going up due to property values, we will ask for more money when impact fees and that’s on top of everyone else who is asking for more money from our citizens.”
Compounding the problem in Highlands County is 440,000 acres of agriculture land is not taxable.