Leon County will craft its new five-year strategic plan at annual retreat

Leon County will bid farewell to its five-year strategic plan and usher in new goals to carry it through 2026 during its annual retreat on Monday.

Commissioners will help chart a path forward in bolstering the local economy, protecting the environment, improving quality of life and implementing citizen ideas into their governance.

They’ll also look back on the successes of the previous strategic plan in which they grew the county’s tourism economy, attracted high-paying jobs and fostered entrepreneurial ventures while also increasing the recycling rate, eliminated hundreds of septic tanks in the Primary Spring Protection Zone and secured nearly $40 million in Veterans Affairs benefits and added more than 15,000 downloadable books to the local library system.

Their priority areas for the 2022-26 strategic plan remain roughly the same however, as according to agenda materials, the commission is focusing on a handful of key initiatives:

• The county came up just shy of its goal of boosting the local tourism economy by $5 billion, ending its strategic plan at $4.5 billion in increases. The goal remains a priority even as officials note the impact the coronavirus pandemic had on attracting people to Tallahassee. Despite it, 1.7 million visitors came to Leon County last year generating $800 million in economic impact.
• The county is continuing its intense focus on eliminating septic tanks along its southern border to help protect the Wakulla Springs watershed. Its goal for the next five years it to upgrade or eliminate 500 tanks in the Primary Springs Protection Zone. Over the last five years, the county surpassed its goal upgrading or eliminating 610 septic systems. At the same time, the Woodville Septic to Sewer project, which is estimated to do away with 1,000 systems by connecting to the city of Tallahassee sewer system, is underway. It is not expected to be completed within the timeframe of the 2022-2026 strategic plan.
• The county is committing to supporting community partners to place 100 people experiencing chronic homelessness into permanent supportive housing. The county along with the city invested $6.2 million in addressing homelessness through services and prevention, with a large focus of that funding going toward developing permanent supportive housing. In 2021, 197 people were identified as chronically homeless in Leon County. As part of its goal focused on quality of life, the county is looking to support partners to place 100 people into housing where they receive rent and utility assistance in addition to wrap-around services.
• Continuing a goal from the previous strategic plan, the county is looking to realize 600 citizen ideas, improvements, solutions and opportunities. To do so, the county is expected to embark on a series of listening sessions, surveys and to solicit ideas from citizen-led committees.

If you go

• The Leon County Commission meets for its annual retreat at 9 a.m. Monday at the North Florida Fairgrounds. 
• The current strategic plan can be found at www.LeonCountyFL.gov/StrategicPlan.
• The retreat will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 16, the Leon County Florida Channel on Roku, the County’s Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube channel and the County’s website.

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Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

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