In a split decision, Escambia County commissioners approved a nearly $894.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year, but not before a lengthy debate over whether the county should cut millions more from the budgets of the sheriff and other constitutional officers.
Ultimately, three of the five board members voted only to cut Clerk of Court and Comptroller Pam Childers’ budget by about $1.1 million and no other constitutional officers — a decision Childers says is “retaliatory,” and she intends to seek “urgent” remedy from the court.
The Board of County Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the final $894,426,079 budget for fiscal year 2026-27. The spending plan is about 3% higher than the $867.9 million budget adopted for the current fiscal year…