Funding for Cecil Spaceport infrastructure. Money for single-gender schools. A dog park.
Those three Duval County projects included in the state budget were among those singled-out by Florida TaxWatch in its annual “Turkey Report” released Friday.
The watchdog organization releases the annual independent report based off line-items that are appropriated “without being subject to a thoughtful and thorough budget process” and isn’t meant to judge any project’s worthiness.
In all, $120 million in projects were dubbed turkeys.
In Duval County, its $2.5 million slated for Cecil Spaceport that was “added in conference,” which means it was added to the budget without public debate, scrutiny or legislative vote, according to the report. Another $150,000 intended for single-gender schools in the county was one of more than a dozen education-related items targeted for being added in conference, with notes that most will bypass competitive contracting processes.
Lastly for Duval County was $123,000 intended for “Riverside Avondale Preservation – Dog Park” paid for with Florida Department of Transportation Funds. It was one of more than a dozen targeted because it “bypasses the established FDOT processes.”
Additionally, those projects using such funds fund local roads or aren’t the types of project the department normally undertakes.
Gov. Rick Scott has 15 days from the day the budget is delivered to him to make line item vetos. He received the $77 billion budget Tuesday.