Commissioner Henry Dean fails second attempt to require face masks

Under Roberts Rules of Order, Commissioner Henry Dean could not offer a motion during the County Commission meeting yesterday to mandate the wearing of face masks in the county since it failed last week. So, Historic City News watched as Dean asked fellow commissioners if they would offer a motion.  However, when no commissioner responded, the mask issue died.

St. Augustine Beach did adopt a mandatory mask ordinance on Monday night, July 6, 2020 and joins the City of St. Augustine in requiring masks when social distancing is not possible.

Jesse Dunn, Director, Office of Management and Budget, presented an overview of the recommended county budget for FY 2021 of $90,493,579 million.

While there is expected to be a decrease in sales tax, gas tax and tourist development tax revenue, there is projected to be 11.3% increase or $ 21.5 million increase in property tax revenue.

Under the proposed budget, there would be no draw down of reserves to respond to COVID-19 because of federal support. With this budget, the County will continue to maintain its AA+ credit rating.

There will be two public hearings on the budget in September before final Commission adoption.

In other commission business, the declaration of emergency was extended, a workforce housing proposal was adopted, and several non-controversial comp plan amendments were adopted.