JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Despite slashing the fiscal year 2009 budget, the Florida Legislature still funded more than $100 million on "turkeys," according to Florida TaxWatch.

Florida TaxWatch, a self-described non-partisan government watchdog group, uses the "turkey" moniker for a legislative appropriation that sidesteps the budgeting process, leaving such projects under-scrutinized.

"The story here is that a $6 billion budget reduction, which will significantly affect many basic functions of state government, only reduced the prevalence of budget turkeys but did not stop them outright," said TaxWatch President Dominic M. Calabro.

The group identified several northeast Florida projects as turkeys, including a $400,000 grant towards Operation New Hope, a re-entry program for the Duval County Department of Corrections and $300,000 granted to St. Johns County for historic properties in St. Augustine.

"Although this year's flock of budget turkeys is much smaller than last year's, it will still shock most people that there are more than $100 million worth of budget turkeys in one of Florida's most austere budgets since the Great Depression" Calabro said.

Simply being a turkey does not call a projects purpose into question, simply the process by which it was included in the budget, Calabro said.

"The underlying principle of this report is not to illuminate questionable projects, but rather to highlight the fact that the taxpayers of Florida deserve to know that their hard-earned money is being spent wisely and appropriately, and the best way to ensure that that to protect the integrity of the budget process," Calabro said.

TaxWatch noted that each $1 million saved from unnecessary projects could hire 18 additional teachers, pay for 18,000 text books, buy 2,000 computers or pay for 100,000 hours of direct tutoring time. If $18 million were saved, it could restore the budget cuts made to the school readiness and after-school programs, Healthy Families, day-treatment facilities and Children/Families in Need programs.

TaxWatch is urging Gov. Charlie Crist to use the line-item veto power to cut these items from the budget. Last year, Crist vetoed 68 percent of the projects TaxWatch identified as turkeys.