Florida's Debt Plummets $1.6 billion

Florida has reduced its debt for the third year in a row in the recently finished budget year, a state financial official told Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet on Tuesday.

Florida joined other states in being mindful of how much money they borrowed after the Great Recession in 2008.Moodys Investors Service reported earlier this year that states like the Sunshine State, as well as the federal government, added to their collective debt burden in 2012 at the slowest rate in at least 20 years.

Moody had high praise for Florida's conservative financial approach, lauding the Sunshine State for its "sound financial management."

Even though Florida is making progress with lessening the debt, Lloyd Dunkelberger of the Herald-Tribune reported that there's a trade-off.Without more extensive bonding, there is overall less money for school construction, environmental land purchases and other programs that are traditionally financed with bonds.

Over the last five years, Florida has refinanced $8.2 billion in debt, with a projected savings of $1.5 billion.In the last budget year, the Sunshine State refinanced over $2 billion in debt, with a projected savings of a whopping $516 million.