Manatee County Administrator's Budget Proposal Looks to Hold the Line

BRADENTON -- Manatee County Administrator Ed Hunzeker proposed a $458 million county budget recommendation on Thursday that would keep property tax levels at last year’s rates and hold public services steady, while avoiding layoffs.The budget reduces the county’s operating expenses by another $4.3 million, but since capital budgets are up $11.1 million, the overall net budget is $6.8 million more than last year’s adopted net budget (excluding Port Manatee). During a budget presentation to the Manatee County Commission, Hunzeker pointed out that even with the slight increase this year the county budget has declined by $132.6 million (22.4 percent) over the past six years, and property taxes have been reduced by $82.7 million or 35 percent.The budget is also 3 percent below the “rollback” rate, which is the tax level required to

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