HURRICANE MICHAEL BUDGET IMPACT

The impact of Hurricane Michael will put increased pressure on Florida’s budget and the storm will exceed the costs for Hurricane Irma in 2017. State analysts now project that a potential 223 million dollar  budget surplus has likely disappeared. Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley said the new report means lawmakers will have to be very conservative in their approach to the new state budget and revenue projections. Eventually, some of the state’s storm recovery costs will be reimbursed by the federal government. On the positive side, the state budget includes 3.5 billion dollars in reserves which could help mitigate some immediate financial challenges.