Local government budgets face public hearings

Historic City News readers in St Johns County will want to participate in the required public budget hearings and take advantage of the opportunity to offer comments on how our local governments will collect and spend your hard-earned money during the upcoming Fiscal year.

The St Augustine City Commission will hold the first of two required public budget hearings Thursday, September 5th; and, the St Johns County Board of Commissioners will host the first public hearing to adopt its proposed millage rate and budget on September 3rd.

A workbook with a summary of each of the funds on which the city relies for operations, a review of some of the projects completed in the past year and an outline of some planned for the coming year, are available on the city website at staugustinegovernment.com. For detailed information on the county budget, visit the county website at sjcfl.us/OMB/

If you plan to attend, the City Commission Budget Meeting will begin at 5:05 p.m. in the Alcazar Room of the City Hall Building located at 75 King Street in St Augustine. The second and final public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 19th, also starting at 5:05 p.m.

New safety measures at City Hall will require attendees to empty the contents of their pockets, subject their bags to search, and submit to an electronic frisk performed by uniformed police using handheld wands upon entry, or re-entry, to the meeting room. Allow sufficient additional time to accomplish this new safety measure.

If you plan to attend, the County Commission Budget Meeting will begin at 5:01 p.m. in the County Auditorium; on the first floor of the County Administration Palace located at 500 San Sebastian View in St Augustine. The second and final public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 24th, also starting at 5:01 p.m.

For more information on the budget process and the public hearing; for the City of St Augustine, contact the Finance, Budget and Management Department at 904.825.1030, and, for St Johns County, contact the Office of Management and Budget at 904.209.0530.