Manatee County, Florida
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Manatee County is one of 67 counties in Florida, created in 1855. The county seat is Bradenton. Manatee County's estimated population in 2009 was 318,361.[1]
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Evaluation of website
Main article: Evaluation of Florida county websites
This site was last evaluated on Feb. 27, 2013.
The good
- Budget
- Meetings
- Elected Officials
- County commissioners are listed with contact information.[6]
- Administration
- Administrative officials are listed with contact information on their respective department pages.[7]
- Permits and Zoning
- Audits
- Audits are posted. [10]
- Audits are archived to 2005.
- Taxes
- Local tax information is provided.[11]
- Lobbying
- The county disclosed memberships to lobbying associations and that it employs lobbyists to represent the county.[12]
- They also post a list of the legislative priorities that the county is lobbying for on the site.[13]
- The total amount spent on lobbying firms is noted through a link to open secrets.
- Public Records
- The county gives information on how to submit a public records request and gives complete contact information for its Public Information Officer.[14]
- Contracts
- Has a searchable database on RFP, bids and approved proposals documents.[15] There is also vendor registration information available.
The bad
- Lobbying
- Membership dues to lobbying associations are not disclosed.
Public records request
In September 2008, Democratic congressional candidate Christine Jennings filed what was described as "a large public information request" under the Florida Sunshine Law with the county's election supervisor.[16]
Lobbying
- Main article: Florida government sector lobbying
Manatee County has reported $849,500 spent on lobbying the federal government since 2000 (see table).
| Year | Amount spent on lobbying |
|---|---|
| 2010 | $140,000 |
| 2009 | $90,000 |
| 2008 | $120,000 |
| 2007 | $120,000 |
| 2006 | $130,000 |
| 2005 | - |
| 2004 | $60,000 |
| 2003 | $20,000 |
| 2002 | $40,000 |
| 2001 | $53,000 |
| 2000 | $76,500 |
From 2002 onward, all of the lobbying expenditures have come from the Manatee County Administrators Office.
Incorporated cities in Manatee
- City of Anna Maria
- City of Bradenton
- City of Bradenton Beach
- City of Holmes Beach
- Town of Longboat Key
- City of Palmetto
Audits
For Manatee County, the clerk or comptroller performs the internal audits.[18]
External links
- Manatee County Board of County Commissioners official website
- Manatee County Supervisor of Elections
- Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
- Manatee County Property Appraiser
- Manatee County Tax Collector
- Manatee County on E-Reference
- Manatee County School District
- Manatee County Economic Development Corp
- Manatee County on Epodunk
References
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau
- ↑ Budget
- ↑ http://www.mymanatee.org/home/government/departments/financial-management/budget-office-administration/prior-years-budget-information-including-cip-and-decision-units.html Budget archives]
- ↑ Meeting Schedule
- ↑ Agendas and Minutes
- ↑ Commissioners
- ↑ Departments
- ↑ Permits
- ↑ Zoning
- ↑ Audits
- ↑ Tax Collector
- ↑ Lobbying
- ↑ 2012 State Legislative Priorities, Manatee County
- ↑ Public Records
- ↑ Contracts
- ↑ Bradenton Herald, "Dems, Reps trade barbs over public records request", September 23, 2008
- ↑ Open Secrets
- ↑ PBC Clerk & Comptroller 5.30.07
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