Beginning in 2023, Manatee County citizens have more ways to track what is going on in their community as legal notices migrate from their traditional location in local newspapers to a new dedicated venue on the Manatee County website: mymanatee.org.
Thanks to Florida House Senate Bill 7049, which goes into effect January 1, 2023, governments will be allowed to post public notices on a county website, rather than publish in a local newspaper.
By simply clicking on the “Public Hearing Notices” button on the website’s homepage, a resident will be directed to a listing of all active public hearing notifications, organized by hearing type. At the bottom of this page, individuals also can register to receive upcoming public hearing notifications by First-Class Mail or e-mail. In addition to public hearing notices, this page provides helpful links to submit a proclamation request or public comment, register to speak at an upcoming meeting or view a meeting or agenda.
“This will give interested citizens more access to their government in action,” said County Administrator Scott Hopes. “It also helps save time and money.”
Current costs to legally notice meetings are about $600 per hearing. That figure is expected to drop three-fold as forecasts show that this new process will save about 20 hours per month of staff time, in addition to saving on advertising costs. The new posting protocols also will enable citizens a more complete view of what is upcoming in county government. This new information portal helps ensure transparency, is fully compliant with Americans with Disabilities (ADA) regulations and is fully searchable.
While it is operational now, the full migration of advertisements to the Website will occur January 1, 2023. The last publication of legal notices in the newspaper(s) will be December 28, 2022, to satisfy the notice requirement of the January 12, 2023, Planning Commission meeting.
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