Manatee County Administrator Cheri Coryea today presented County Commissioners with a $710.7 million net budget for next year. The budget is a slight reduction from the current year due to a host of unknowns presented by the global pandemic, but it includes funding for new Sheriff's Office deputies, two new ambulance units and a host of long-needed transportation improvements throughout Manatee County. Manatee Sheriff's Office budget includes 12 new positions, including six patrol deputies, two court security deputies, a new domestic violence unit detective and a resource assistant program deputy to assist with the homeless, among others. MSO will also receive $200,000 for de-escalation training to assist front-line responders in handling difficult situations.

"Today we present a County Administrator’s Recommended Budget for a year that most likely holds more uncertainty than anytime in recent history. ," Coryea said referring to the unknown expenses presented by the coronavirus. "Recently, our financial outlook has come into somewhat sharper focus and we are  proposing a net budget with a decrease of 3.9 percent to the prior year or $28.6 million decrease to the net budget which include the impacts of COVID-19. Built into this is the expectation that we’ll see a more substantial reduction in revenue during the next fiscal year of 2022." 

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