During the latest in a series of budget meetings, Commissioner Jason Bearden had one major question for Chief Financial Officer Sheila McLean: Does Manatee County need a billion dollars in reserves?
“We have needs in this county; our residents are sitting in traffic,” Bearden said. “This is insane, and that’s why I’m going to be pushing to do something to figure out a way to release some of these reserves.”
McLean proposed $995,959,976 be set aside in the fiscal year 2026 budget at the Sept. 10 budget workshop. However, the final budget won’t be approved until a second public hearing Sept. 22…