TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday signed into law a $71.5 billion spending plan but not before cutting a few Southwest Florida projects while approving many others.

Included in Crist’s budget veto message was $100,000 for the community school in Immokalee and $85,000 for a water quality study on Captiva Island.

Crist also axed a $500,000 request from the City of Marco Island toward replacing the East Winterberry Bridge.

“There’s disappointment,” Marco City Manager Bill Moss said. “Prior to this, we have never sought state legislative funding like this for any projects on Marco Island. We thought this bridge, which was damaged by two hurricanes, was worthy of funding.”

The city decided Monday to award a contract to build a replacement bridge. The state funding would have offset some of the $5.3 million cost.

Still, the state spending plan includes at least $10 million for restoration efforts along the Caloosahatchee River and at least $50 million more for Lake Okeechobee cleanup. That, coupled with millions of dollars more in Everglades restoration funds, bodes well for the region, local lawmakers said.

“I’m happy the governor chose to keep the environmental funding so critical to our region,” said Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples.

But the budget had its disappointments, including a $15 million cut that would have provided assistance to mobile home owners to hurricane-proof their dwellings.

“That makes me scratch my head,” said Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples. “If we spend one mitigation dollar, we get six or seven dollars back.”

The plan retains $300,000 for the David Lawrence Center for crisis stabilization beds and $75,000 for the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida. Both of those items that had been flagged by a Tallahassee-based tax watchdog group earlier this week.

Citing the burdens of rising fuel costs, property insurance and local taxes on Floridians, Crist cut $459 million from the budget, saying it was only appropriate that the state tighten its belt and put money away for a rainy day.

“This is a tight budget year and we must live within our means just as the people of Florida must live within theirs,” Crist told reporters in Tallahassee before signing off on the 429-page budget.

The spending plan sets aside $7.3 billion for transportation projects and another $2.8 billion for education construction. The plan spends $295 million for incentive programs to attract and retain targeted businesses.

Crist thanked lawmakers for the proposal, which was $2.1 billion less than the previous year’s $73.6 billion budget.

The proposal increased public school funding by 6.8 percent, which is $1.2 billion more spent for schools. The package also set aside nearly $200 million for Everglades restoration and other $261 million in water quality projects.

Lawmakers also put nearly $2 billion into reserves.

Despite high praise, Crist cut hundreds of projects and budget items including a proposed tuition hike for community college and state university students. Crist said the state’s relatively low tuition rates should remain. The veto translates into nearly $40 million in savings to college students statewide.

Republican leaders of both chambers said they wouldn’t challenge the new governor’s decisions, though some could be challenged on legal grounds because they were made to budget items with specific legislative intent.

“The Legislature and the governor have fulfilled their duties in the budget process, and our work is now done,” Senate President Ken Pruitt said. “I have no intention of supporting overrides for vetoed projects.”

Highlights of budget signed Thursday by Gov. Charlie Crist

EDUCATION

— Basic public school spending: $19.3 billion, up 6.8 percent over previous year. Per-student spending is $7,306, up $455 per student over last year.

— Reading instruction: $116.9 million, up 4.6 percent. Includes money for 80 additional reading coaches.

— Teacher bonuses: $147.5 million for 5 to 10 percent performance bonuses to teachers.

— Community colleges: $1.3 billion, up $70.4 million from last year.

— State university system: $3.8 billion, an increase of $199 million.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

— Overall health and human services budget is $24.3 billion.

— Children’s health: $56 million for health care for uninsured children through KidCare.

— Tobacco prevention spending returns to higher levels after several years of declining spending. Because of a 2006 constitutional amendment, lawmakers were forced this year to spend $54 million from the state’s settlement with cigarette makers on tobacco use prevention.

— Mental health treatment in criminal justice system: $53.4 million.

— Senior centers: $9.1 million to construct, repair and maintain Florida’s senior centers to offer health, social, nutritional, educational and recreational programs and services for elders.

— $116 million toward the deficit at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to be spent on the home and community-based services program.

ENVIRONMENT

— An extra $100 million toward Everglades restoration on top of the $100 million the state normally spends annually.

— About $50 million for the first phase of a Lake Okeechobee recovery project.

— About $40 million for restoration of the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers and estuaries.

TAXES

— The budget accounts for another year of the sales tax break on hurricane preparedness items from June 1-12.

— The budget also takes into account waiving of the sales tax on many school supplies and clothes for 10 days starting Aug. 4.

PUBLIC SAFETY

— $164.4 million to begin construction of 5,139 state-operated prison beds.

— $11.3 million for continued refurbishing and upgrading of National Guard armories.

TRANSPORTATION

— Road building: $7.3 billion for road building, including $35 million for I-95 improvements.

— Seaports: $50 million for planned improvements at seaports, including improving cargo handling, expanding operational capacity and addressing infrastructure needs.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

— $25 million in incentives for the film industry.

— $250 million for the innovation incentive program to attract companies, particularly in high-tech industries, to Florida.

— $45 million for a quick action closing fund, to let the state quickly offer incentives to lure businesses to the state.

ELECTION OVERHAUL

— Voting machines: $27.8 million to buy optical scan equipment to replace touch-screen voting machines.

VETOED:

-- $100,000 for the community school in Immokalee

-- $85,000 for a water quality study on Captiva Island

-- $15 million for mobile home renovations

-- $500,000 for Marco Island Winterberry Bridge

BUDGETED:

Florida Gulf Coast University

-- Renovation and repair, $5 million

-- Roads and parking, $5 million

-- Energy plant expansion, $4.8 million

-- Engineering, additional $9.3 million

Edison College

-- Renovations and maintenance, $2.8 million

-- Health Science annex, $1.6 million

-- Classroom remodeling, $6.4 million

-- Child Care Training Center/Collier, $161,000

-- Challenge grants, $1.8 million

-- Child Care Training Center, $1.6 million

-- Baccalaureate program, $116,150

-- University of Florida Dental School/Collier campus, $4 million

Health and human services, cultural

-- Adult crisis stabilization beds/Collier County, $300,000

-- Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida, $75,000

Everglades restoration, $200 million:

-- Northern Everglades projects, $90 million

-- Caloosahatchee River, $10 million

-- Other projects outside of Southwest Florida

Source: 2007 state budget

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The Associated Press and Daily News staff writer Liam Dillon contributed to this report. Michael Peltier can be reached at mpeltier1234@comcast.net