Gov. Ron DeSantis line-item vetoed items totaling $810 million when he signed Florida’s $117.6 billion Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget on Monday, including a wastewater project in Century and public safety for Escambia County.

DeSantis vetoed:

• Escambia County Hazardous Materials Regional Emergency Response Vehicle — $1.35 million. It was intended to be a regional response vehicle used across multiple counties.
• Escambia County Station Management System — $1.05 million. The advanced management system would have been used in all staffed fire stations.
• Escambia County 911 Dispatch Communication Improvements — $700,000. The project would have replaced outdated 911 dispatch consoles.
• Century Inflow and Infiltration Study — $315,000. The study was to be aimed at problem areas in the system to reduce wastewater flow at the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Other Escambia County and Century funding requests never made the budget and were not funded:

• Escambia County Radio System Upgrade — $38 million. Escambia County requested $38 million to replace the county’s aging P25 UHF radio system with a modern 800 MHz trunked platform. The upgrade would have renewed all hardware and software for fire, EMS, law enforcement, transit, and public works, in addition to improving interoperability with regional partners during major incidents and planned events. “The 2012 system nears end-of-life in 2030, and failure may risk public safety,” the appropriations request stated.
• Century WWTP Motor Control — $1.061 million center. The Town of Century requested $1.061 million for a wastewater treatment plant motor control center (MCC) replacement. The town said parts on the current MCC routinely fail, and the age of the system makes it difficult to find replacement parts. The MCC replacement is a requirement set forth by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

NorthEscambia.com graphic, click to enlarge.