Lawmakers get Pasco funding list

The budget conference list contains items ranging from library improvements to upgrades in the sheriff's communications system.

By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN and RYAN DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 10, 2002

A $2-million commitment to library renovations at Pasco-Hernando Community College and a host of other items that could benefit Pasco County will go before the state Legislature next week for final approval.

State Reps. Mike Fasano and Heather Fiorentino released a list Thursday of projects that will be included in the budget conference report for fiscal year 2002-03 that will go to the full Legislature on Monday. All the programs are subject to veto by the governor. The funds for library renovations at the college are $1-million less than what local lawmakers sought.

The list also includes $200,000 for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office project called Kids in Domestic Situations program.

Former Sheriff Lee Cannon started the program a year before the election of current Sheriff Bob White, who was elected in late 2000. KIDS aids children in families where there is domestic abuse. Its budget is about $300,000 a year, White said. This year, $200,000 of that is from the state.

"I don't expect to get that money," White said on Thursday.

White said he was told through Fasano last year that he wouldn't get the money again. If the Sheriff's Office does get it, the program will remain largely intact, White said.

"We're developing two plans: one with the money and one without the money," the sheriff said. "When we get those plans, I will be definitive with you, but right now we're not there."

The list also includes:

$50,000 for the Pasco Association for Challenged Kids Summer Camp.

$1.35-million for the Eckerd Youth Alternatives Hi-5 Program in Pasco and other counties.

$500,000 for the New Port Richey Marine Institute's new education center.

$750,000 for the Pasco County Adolescent Intervention Center.

$4-million for the Florida Youth Conservation Corps in Pasco and other counties.

$750,000 for the noncustodial parent program in Pasco and other counties.

$1,251,033 for the Area Agency on Aging's Local Services Program in Pasco and Pinellas.

$187,500 for the Harbor's Children's Crisis Stabilization Unit.

$100,000 for the AFIRE of Pasco's relocation of its day school.

$100,000 for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office's communications system upgrade.

$3,441,504 for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office's Child Protection Services.

$19,842,161 for Florida Department of Transportation road projects in Pasco.

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