FORT PIERCE - The St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners is second in the state in terms of reducing its 2009-2010 annual budget below the "rollback rate," according to a new report from the Florida Association of Counties.

St. Lucie County Commissioners approved an annual budget that is 21.78 percent below the "rollback rate." The rollback rate is the millage rate that counties can levy by state law to generate the same amount of revenue as last year. By not increasing the millage to the rollback rate, St. Lucie County decreased its revenue by more than $60 million.

"While it is the job of the County Commissioners to approve and set the policies that dictate St. Lucie County's budget, a lot of the credit goes to the hard work and diligence of County staff," said St. Lucie County Commission Chair Paula A. Lewis. "The Board is proud of the fact that we have not increased the millage rate in many years, but in fact, we have reduced it and have been able to hold the line in spite of falling revenues. We realize that our staff is doing more with less; yet, we've still been able to maintain a high level of services during these tough economic times."

St. Lucie County was one of 14 counties, out of 67 Florida counties, that decreased its revenues by more than 10 percent; and one of only two that decreased revenues by more than 20 percent. To see the full report from the Florida Association of Counties visit: http://www.fl-counties.com/proptax.

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