Government of Florida - Budget

Budget

Florida has a Balanced Budget Amendment, requiring the state not to have a budget deficit. The requirement for a balanced budget does not appear as such in the Florida Constitution. Article VII, Section 1(d), Florida Constitution, provides: "Provision shall be made by law for raising sufficient revenue to defray the expenses of the state for each fiscal period." Article III, Section 19(a), Florida Constitution, provides for "Annual Budgeting." These two provisions, when read together, form the basis for the balanced annual budget requirement.

Florida's state budget is funded one-third from General Revenue and two-thirds from hundreds of trust funds. The General Revenue portion of Florida's state budget is funded primarily by sales tax, while local governments also have their own respective budgets funded primarily by property taxes. The annual state budget is constructed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor who administers it. The state budget for 2008-9 was $66 billion.

In 2008, the state was one of four which had fully funded pension systems for government employees, including teachers. There are five classes of state employees for pension investment: Regular and Special Risk Administrative employees accrue retirement benefits at 1.6%-1.68% per year; Senior Management, 2%; Special Risk employees, such as police and firefighters, 3%; and elected officers, including judges and legislative at 3% to 3.3%. The higher rate for the latter is to encourage early retirement. In 2010 there were 304,000 state retirees and 655,000 active employees. The average teacher's retirement check is $1,868 monthly. The average regular class retiree gets $970 per month.