Near the bottom in education funding

Education burden shifted to property owners
Florida continues to rank near the bottom of all states in per-pupil funding.
Gainesville Sun

lawmakers have shifted the responsibility of paying for K-20 education - kindergarten through college - to property owners.

Of all the state's general revenues - which include sales tax and fees - education's share declined from 61.5 percent in 1984-85 to 50.5 percent in 2005-06.

Looking at just the education budget: In 1985, state sales taxes and fees paid 65 percent of the cost of public education. Now, sales taxes and fees pay only 47 percent. The rest comes from property taxes. more...

See also:

Tourism board advising Collier commission to cut county museum funding
Naples Daily News
“They are cutting back on people and everything else to keep the county budget balanced.” The Marco Island museum is slated to get $80000 next year for ...

Cascading impacts

In affluent Naples:

More hungry students could be starting school Monday

In Sarasota:

Sarasota County schools cut $40 million from this year's budget. In the past two years Manatee has cut $43 million in spending. Fewer data and reading coaches, assistant principals and media specialists means more work for teachers and less help for students. link

Breaking a condominium death spiral

Few of the Southwest Florida’s condominiums are untouched by the housing bust, with experts claiming anywhere from a single unit to 40 percent of any given building’s units abandoned, in foreclosure or having residents who can no longer afford to pay their association dues.

In Osceola:

Fire Rescue station and library hours could be among county budget cuts

Schools pinched in Sarasota

In Sarasota, hundreds of educators will have to adapt to teaching new grade levels and subjects, or groups of students with special needs, after budget cuts forced the district to move about 280 teachers into new positions for the school year that starts Monday.

from:

The first day of school, and already there's a test

Crist Veto Costs Schools $6 million

By Joe Follick & Lloyd Dunkelberger

Published: Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:40 a.m.

Florida's school districts have lost out on millions for the coming year because Gov. Charlie Crist shot down a plan to provide them extra cash from an account that comes from gun-permit fees. ...

The veto cost Polk County schools more than $213,000 while costing Sarasota County nearly $94,000, Manatee more than $95,000 and Charlotte County more than $37,000. Large districts lost even more money. Miami-Dade schools, for example, lost more than $778,000.

...

Any call to eliminate any of the hundreds of tax loopholes and breaks - largely for businesses and corporations - is inevitably buried under cries that Florida's business environment will suffer under the burden of crushing taxes. more...

More budget axes fall

Schools to get less money for career preparation

after lawmakers cut the $11 million budget for the Florida Ready to Work program, state officials realized they do not have enough money to pay the schools.

North Port eyes service cuts

NORTH PORT - Aside from police, fire and park services, all city services are on the budget chopping block, and cuts could come quickly after the city receives its new property assessment values Friday, City Manager Steven Crowell said.