PORT ST. LUCIE — Thousands of festival-goers might not be able to enjoy the next annual Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day Festival, and Art and All That Jazz because of city budget cuts.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Area staff is recommending the City Council cut the $10,000 sponsorship it gives to each festival. Assistant City Manager Greg Oravec, who also serves as the agency’s director, sent letters earlier this month giving the bad news to the organizers.

He said last week he doesn’t know how long the cuts will last, and the festivals will have to raise more money privately.
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St. Lucie County Clerk of Courts Joe Smith announced this afternoon that he is offering buyouts and early retirement packages to some employees but will eventually have to lay off others by July to make up for a $546,000 budget cut.

Smith told his employees about the imminent layoffs in an email this afternoon, saying his office received the new numbers late last week from the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation.

The new budget would give the office about $8.1 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, down from more than $8.6 million they had for the current year.

The cuts come after state lawmakers in the last legislative session voted to change the way clerk’s offices are funded.

It’s disappointing,” Smith said this afternoon. “As a manager the worst thing you can tell you employees is ‘I have to let you go.’”
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