County Seeks Applicants For Escambia Children’s Trust

January 4, 2023

The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners is seeking applications from county residents to serve on the Escambia Children’s Trust.

In November 2020, 61% of participating voters in Escambia County supported the creation of the Children’s Trust  to be funded by an increase in ad valorem taxes of up to a maximum of 0.5 mil. The Children’s Trust will provide early childhood education, safety, developmental, preventative, health, and well-being services, including after school and summer enrichment programs.

The ECT is responsible for assessing the needs of the children in the county and developing a strategic plan for addressing unmet needs, which must then be submitted to the Board. The ECT, like the county, must also go through the process of adopting a millage rate and budget in accordance with Florida’s Truth In Millage (TRIM) Act, and the CSC must submit an annual report to the Board as required by Florida law.

Applications are available online at MyEscambia.com or in person at the Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building, located at 221 Palafox Place, 4th floor. The application consists of several parts: an Escambia Children’s Trust application, a questionnaire for gubernatorial appointments and an optional resume. Both applications must be completed and submitted together to be considered for an appointment. The deadline to apply is January 18, 2023, by 5 p.m.

To be considered for the ECT, Florida Statute criteria include the requirement that nominees have been residents of Escambia County for the previous 24-month period and are willing to submit an annual Statement of Financial Interests Form. Florida Statutes also require that gubernatorial appointments are representative of the demographic diversity of the county’s population.

The Board of County Commissioners will nominate three applicants to be submitted to the Governor for review and potential appointment. Following the Board’s selection, the County Administrator will then send a letter to the Governor and the Governor’s Appointments Office with the list of six nominees to be considered for appointment to the CSC. All of candidates will be notified of their nomination. In accordance with Florida Statutes, the Governor then has 45 days to make a selection or request a new list of candidates.

Comments

2 Responses to “County Seeks Applicants For Escambia Children’s Trust”

  1. Sug on January 6th, 2023 10:28 pm

    I’d like to know precisely what ECT is using citizen tax dollars for. How about a list of accomplishments and stats that show a positive “bang for the buck”. In my opinion, this is just another welfare program and those who run it are profiting for essentially doing nothing. Exactly what programs have been developed for children and how can ECT prove that our money is making a difference? What children are excluded? No one seems to be able to answer this. Stupid voters vote YES on every addendum without researching the program or the cost. And I don’t recall anything about raising property taxes to fund this. What about all the renters who aren’t contributing to this welfare program? Get rid of it!

  2. Local on January 4th, 2023 3:39 pm

    Is this a paid position?