OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Marion County commissioners on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, approved a $705,327 budget shift so Community Services can keep funding contracts covered by the State Housing Initiatives Program (SHIP) while the county waits for Florida’s next quarterly deposit. The Board of County Commissioners took the action at its regular meeting at the McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium in Ocala.
SHIP is a Florida program that provides funding to help eligible residents with housing needs, such as buying or repairing homes.
The amendment does not raise taxes and does not create new state money. It moves cash already in the Local Housing Trust Fund into the main GRANTS & AID–SHIP line (the official budget line-item name on the county resolution) so staff can reimburse work already underway, which includes Habitat for Humanity draws, home-rehabilitation projects, and purchase assistance for waitlisted buyers, until Tallahassee releases this quarter’s SHIP transfer…