Allocations for higher education in Polk County emerged nearly unscathed as Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state budget, but DeSantis vetoed some six-figure projects sought by local cities.
DeSantis ratified the annual budget in a signing ceremony held June 29 in Tampa. He approved a budget of $117.6 billion for the fiscal year that begins July 1, vetoing about $1.6 billion in allocations from the spending plan developed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Florida’s Constitution allows the governor to make “line-item” vetoes of individual spending components approved by the Legislature. Most of those projects enter the budget through requests from House and Senate members on behalf of local governments and other entities.
Frostproof suffered the largest loss of potential funding from DeSantis’ vetoes. He deleted an allocation of nearly $2.6 million for the Lake Clinch shoreline stabilization project, according to a veto list released by DeSantis’ office.
DeSantis rejected funding for three projects in Lakeland. He vetoed allocations for a septic-to-sewer conversion project and for a public safety radio replacement, each of which had received $1 million.
The governor also negated $115,000 in funding for an education center at Lakeland Se7en Wetlands.
DeSantis crossed out $750,000 in funding to Auburndale for an alternative water supply pipeline. He rejected an allocation of nearly $490,000 to Bartow for a police emergency rescue vehicle.
Another veto deprives Winter Haven of $450,000 that the Legislature allocated for the Willowbrook Road-Winter Haven regional connector. That is half of the projected total cost of the project, intended to alleviate congestion on State Road 544.
DeSantis vetoed $565,000 in funds to Fort Meade for wastewater lift station improvements.
Webber International University in Babson Park sustained the only veto of a higher education project in Polk County, as DeSantis erased a $343,000 allocation for a safety enhancement initiative.
The governor cut a $250,000 allocation to Polk County Public Schools to help fund a mobile STEM/career exploration lab. According to the request from Superintendent Fred Heid, the money would go toward a trailer that would house a “mobile Lab that will be able to travel to schools throughout county and offer students hands on STEM and Career Exploration experiences.”
Florida Poly, Polk State College fare well
Florida Polytechnic University and Polk State College both escaped potential line-item vetoes of funding for major projects.
DeSantis left intact two appropriations totaling $33 million for Polk State College. The larger of the budget items is $25.4 million for renovations to LLC Building 3 on the Lakeland campus. The building, which opened in 1991, will receive upgrades to its library and tutoring center and improvements to the exterior courtyard, Polk State said in a news release.
The budget also provides nearly $7.6 million for construction of the Haines City-Davenport campus. That allocation follows a combined $18.1 million that the Legislature included in the two previous budgets.
Polk State’s District Board of Trustees voted on June 3 to install Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas as the school’s president, effective July 6. DeSantis appointed Kamoutsas last year as Florida’s commissioner of education.
“We are grateful to Governor DeSantis, the Legislature, the Polk County Legislative Delegation and our community partners for their advocacy,” Board of Trustees Chair Ann Barnhart said in the news release. “Polk State’s eighth location will bring high-demand workforce education programs to the fastest-growing area of Polk County, bringing a 20-year vision to fruition thanks to the state’s critical investment in higher education and workforce training.”
The budget will provide $10 million for the construction of a Student Achievement Center at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. That follows allocations of $12 million last year and $5.7 million in 2024.
Rising to 3,000, Florida Poly’s initiative focused on increasing enrollment, also survived a possible veto of its $7.5 million line item.
Florida Poly also gained nearly $11 million in performance funding after compiling the largest one-year performance gain among all state universities on the Florida Board of Governors’ model, the school said in a news release.
DeSantis spared a budget allocation of $5 million to Florida Southern College in Lakeland for a workforce readiness expansion.
Road project will get $5 million
Among the largest municipal allocations to escape potential vetoes is $5 million for segment two of the expansion of Power Line Road in the Davenport-Haines City area. Construction on that private-public project, one of the largest in Polk County history, began in 2024.
Though he vetoed one Bartow project, DeSantis allowed a $4 million allocation for a headquarters and training facility at the central fire station.
The budget also provides $3 million for the Polk County Agri-Center and Equestrian Complex in Bartow and $2.5 million to Polk County for expansion of the Emergency Operations Center in Winter Haven.
Amid his vetoes of other Lakeland projects, DeSantis spared $1 million for the San Gully Road drainage and stabilization project.
Davenport will receive nearly $2 million for the Center Crest sanitary sewer collection system project, while Auburndale’s veto is partly offset by $500,000 for the construction of its second fire station.
The budget includes $13 million for construction of a courthouse serving Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeal, based in Lakeland. Created by the Legislature on Jan. 1, 2023, the court now rents space in downtown Lakeland and sometimes holds hearings in rooms at Florida Southern College.
DeSantis allowed funding for some nonprofit agencies in Polk County. Tri-County Human Services, based in Lakeland, will receive $1.5 million for community detox beds. Peace River Center, a nonprofit based in Bartow, will get $850,000 for a community mobile support team and about $500,000 for a certified community behavioral health clinic.
One More Child, based in Lakeland, will receive $850,000 for an anti-sex trafficking program, $495,000 for a single-mothers program and $300,000 for family support and prevention programs.
All of the requests for Polk County projects were made by legislators representing parts of the county: Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula; Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland; Rep. Jon Albert, R-Frostproof; Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland; Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, R-Lakeland; and Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City.
Tomkow left office in March to run unsuccessfully in a Florida Senate special election in Hillsborough County and has since been replaced by Rep. Hilary Holley, R-Polk City, who won a special election.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: DeSantis vetoes millions in Polk County. Here’s what was spared
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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By Gary White, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
