About Us

The Small County Coalition of Florida

40 Members Strong

The Small County Coalition is a non-partisan statewide alliance of county commissions in Florida’s small and rural counties. The Small County Coalition’s primary mission is to help Florida’s small and rural counties address legislative issues from a small county/rural perspective and work effectively with state agency leadership.

The Small County Coalition supports programs that improve the financial viability and fiscal capacity of Florida’s local governments in small counties.

The Coalition is led by an executive committee which consists of the Officers, Regional Representatives from throughout the regions of the State of Florida, and 3 At-Large appointees.

For membership purposes, a small county is defined in the Coalition Bylaws as a county with a population of 150,000 persons or less. However, the Coalition has additional membership categories for counties, corporations, and other not-for-profit, governmental entities that share the same concerns as Coalition members.

The Small County Coalition is represented by governmental relations consultants Chris Doolin and Bob Jones of the firm of Robert P. Jones & Associates.

Guiding Principles

The Small County Coalition is focused on the following Guiding Principles

  • Support Funding in High Priority Need Areas. 
  • Support Local Control without regulatory or statutory pre-emptions to govern on issues of local impact including, but not limited to, environmental and fiscal matters.   
  • Support efforts to promote Quality of Life issues in rural areas, including access to quality health care, expanded internet access, protecting water quality and protecting the character and quality of rural communities and environments.  
  • Ensure Effectiveness of Economic Development Efforts; Stimulate Employment Growth; and Target Actions to Protect Against Job Losses or Economic Instability.  
  • Oppose Proposals that Shift Cost from State to Local level, Increase Local Costs, and/or are “One Size Fits All” approaches. 
  • Identify and Eliminate, Waive, Delay, or Mitigate Requirements, Regulations, Mandated Criteria, Reports, Studies, or other requirements that are non-critical and result in increased local spending.  
  • Provide for “Meaningful Local Involvement” in State or Regional activities and local decisions.  

Protocol Objectives

The Small County Coalition strives to:

  • Focus on issues that will have highest impact on small counties.
  • Foster collaborative commissioner/legislator relationships in promoting support for small county and local community.
  • Assist small county legislators promote issues and foster support for small county priorities.
  • Work in collaboration with FAC while maintaining focus on small county agenda.
  • Foster alliances with traditional rural supporters and advocates.
  • Be conscious of impact of legislative actions on rural economic base and small county priorities.  
  • Attempt to limit conflicts where issues are broader than the small county agenda or that might undermine or create opposition to small county priorities.