County Governments in Florida

The quality of life, then, depends very much on the functioning of these counties. They must be organized, managed, and financed so as to provide a huge variety of services to a society that is heavily urbanized. This book seeks to make the reader well aware of these obligations, and it introduces a companion principle, home rule. The counties must have the operating freedom and the resources to meet their responsibilities, and that flexibility must be provided by higher levels of government, particularly the State.

The finances of counties, as well as other local governments, were being publicly debated in 2007-2008. Two chapters of this book provide important perspectives on the issues involved.