- April 16, 2024
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The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners voiced its approval for a tax increase Thursday in the first of two public meetings to adopt the budget for the coming fiscal year, and the board chambers were packed with people who came out to speak or listen.
But not one of the speakers opposed the tax hike.
Instead, most pleaded for the board to find money to fund two jail-diversion programs: an established mental health program called Stewart -Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare, and a new pre-trial release program requested by Flagler Sheriff Jim Manfre.
By the end of the session, the commission came to a unanimous decision to find money for both, pledging to cut spending on office supplies and other equipment to cover the $100,000 needed for the mental health program and the approximately $55,000 needed to start the pre-trial release program.
"We can always find an extra desk of a computer," said Commission Vice-Chair George Hanns. "If that's what it takes, I'll turn in my own laptop."
Many people spoke in favor of the programs, several of them young men who'd been in trouble with the law and said the mental health program helped them turn their lives around. Two had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder through the program, which then helped them get the counseling and medication they need to live stable lives.
Commissioner Frank Meeker called their testimony "a real eye-opener."
"I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a program that was funded by the public or a government service that provides as much benefit as what I just heard tonight," he said.
County Administrator Craig Coffey said funding for the programs would come from "shuffling some money around." Some of the money for the pre-trial release program would come from the Sheriff's Department.
Under the proposed tax increase, the county's millage rate would rise from $7.08 per $1,000 of taxable property value to $7.99 per $1,000 of taxable property value under the proposed plan.
A final vote on the budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday Sept. 19 in the Flagler County Commissioners Board Chambers at 1769 E. Moody Blvd. in Bunnell.
