TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis used his line-item veto pen on 50 projects in the Jacksonville area totaling around $70 million, but most of the bigger items that lawmakers inserted into the 2024-25 budget remained intact when DeSantis signed the budget into law on Wednesday.
DeSantis vetoed about 700 items statewide adding up to nearly $950 million so the cuts in the five-county Jacksonville metropolitan area fit into the approach he took elsewhere.
The biggest veto in the Jacksonville area eliminated $11.7 million for the District 23 regional medical examiner's office serving St. Johns, Putnam and Flagler counties. He vetoed nearly $11 million in public works projects in St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach and cut funding for several county road construction projects in fast-growing areas of St. Johns, Clay and Nassau counties. He also eliminated several million dollars for expanding nursing programs.
Even before releasing his veto list of projects that state lawmakers had added to the budget, DeSantis had said he supported an additional $75 million for a University of Florida graduate campus in Jacksonville and $20 million for enhancing security at the state's four historically Black colleges and universities. Edward Waters University will receive $5 million of that amount.
He also left in place $40.2 million for construction of a University of North Florida student support and academic building that would have study space, learning centers, tutoring, career development and other academic enhancements. UNF wants to increase enrollment to 25,000 students by 2028 and school officials say the center will support that growth.
An extensive renovation of Hotel Ponce de Leon at Flagler College in St. Augustine will get another $35 million, following a $35 million amount in this year's budget. The work will preserve the National Historic Landmark building that houses several hundred Flagler College students and is a tourist destination.
DeSantis vetoed a $3 million line item for cargo cranes at JaxPort but he left a separate $23 million for cranes at the port intact.
He backed a one-time payment of $15 million to UF Health Jacksonville, the city's main hospital for treating poor patients who cannot pay for their health care. He supported $5 million for the Ocearch research and operations center in Mayport that's a partnership between Jacksonville University, Ocearch and the city of Jacksonville.
He left $5 million for the Museum of Science and History's planned new museum on the downtown rivefront near the sports complex.
While DeSantis generally backed spending on higher education in Northeast Florida, he vetoed $2.8 million for Florida State College at Jacksonville nursing program facilities and $2.9 million from Jacksonville University's Grow Florida Nurses program.
Many of the smaller items inserted by lawmakers to support non-profit organizations and road work made it through DeSantis's review. Here is spending he rejected in different counties.
Duval County projects vetoed
- JaxPort crane modernization: $3 million
- Jacksonville University Grow Florida Nurses program: $2.9 million
- FSCJ nursing programs: $2.8 million
- Dunn Avenue at V.C. Johnson Road intersection improvements: $1 million
- Timucuan Parks Foundation's healthy parks initiative: $850,000
- First Coast High School pedestrian signal: $500,000
- Neptune Beach stormwater improvements: $500,000
- JEA's St. Johns River Power Park transportation study: $500,000
- Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center's Girls Matter: $500,000
- Growing Green Jobs Jacksonville: $482,500
- Smart North Florida pilot project: $450,000
- Atlantic Beach marshside septic tank elimination: $312,500
- The Boselli Foundation mentorship program: $303,800
- Atlantic Beach dune protection and beach access: $250,000
- North Florida workforce soft skills and financial literacy training: $137,500
- Historic Eastside community preventive mental health and wellness: $100,000
- Jax Youth Exposure entrepreneurship program: $21,500
St. Johns County items vetoed
- District 23 regional medical examiners office for St. Johns, Putnam and Flagler counties: $11.7 million
- St. Johns County central public safety station: $7.5 million
- St. Augustine-West Augustine septic to sewer in Four Mile Road area: $5 million
- St. Augustine Beach Mickler Boulevard ditch erosion: $3.86 million
- County Road 2209 central segment: $3.5 million
- St. Augustine Beach Mizell Stormwater Treatment Facility improvements: $2 million
- tag! children's museum of St. Augustine: $1.75 million
- Epic Community Services sober living transitional housing: $1,510,145
Clay County items vetoed
- County Road 217 bridge safety improvements and replacement: $2.5 million
- County Road 209 safety improvements: $1.5 million
- County Road 218 extend four-lane road: $1.5 million
- County Road 220 extension: $1.5 million
- Clay County Utility Authority improvements: $1 million
- Clay County fire station No. 21: $750,000
- YMCA of Florida's First Coast Immokalee Unique Abilities Center: $700,000
- Florida 16 extension: $750,000
- Green Cove Springs - Spring Park shoreline resiliency: $425,000
- Black Creek Bike Trail: $375,000
- Green Cove Springs senior center emergency generator: $200,000
- Brooks Rehabilitation feeding and swallowing clinic: $185,000
- Clay Behavioral Health Center accessibility project: $125,000
Nassau County items vetoed
- County Road 108 extension: $3.7 million
- Hilliard water supply expansion: $1.95 million
- Fernandina Beach 200th anniversary beautification and preservation: $1 million
- George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park: $500,000
- Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Florida Camp Deep Pond: $500,000
- Nassau County 911 console replacement: $375,000
- Lutheran Social Services mental health transition beds for elderly: $375,000
- Coalition for the Homeless of Nassau County: $17,750
- Light Up Amelia bicentennial: $15,500
Baker County items vetoed
- Baker Fire District tanker: $250,000
- Baker Fire District air compressor/purifier: $70,000