17-page document provides abundance of data
In the 2025 fiscal year, the Sarasota County Planning and Development Services Department issued 58,764 permits, of which 1,851 were for single-family dwellings. It also issued 15 grants for neighborhood projects totaling $98,978.20.
During the 2025 calendar year, the Solid Waste Department processed 325,881 tons of material sat the landfill in Nokomis, while 52,486 pounds of household hazardous waste and 31,593 tons of recyclables were diverted from the landfill.
Those are just a few of the statistics included in a 17-page report on Sarasota County Government activities for the past year. The final county newsletter for 2025, issued on Dec. 31, included a link to the report.
“Our vision,” the report says, is to “[p]rovide exceptional quality services in collaboration with the cities and act as a financially responsible steward. Our high-performing county organization
takes great pride in customer-focused services that add value to the community.”
The Table of Contents page noted that the county population in 2025 was 487,640, with 61.2% of the residents — 298,476 — living in the unincorporated areas.
The annual median household income, it added, was $80,633, and the median age of a resident was 57.6 years.
Among other data in the report are the following:
- The Emergency Services Department — under whose umbrella the Fire Department operates — responded to 67,504 calls for service, “delivering critical care and life-saving services across the county,” the report noted. Of those calls, it added, “13,102 were fire-related,” while the remaining 54,402 were for emergency medical services. “[F]irefighter/EMTs and firefighter/paramedics transported 38,289 patients to area hospitals,” it pointed out.
- The 311 Call Center answered 283,375 calls.
- The Public Records staff processed 10,609 requests.
- The Libraries and Historical Resources Department circulated slightly more than 2,275,824 items, including books, audiobooks, digital materials and DVDs.
- Breeze Transit recorded 1,624,479 bus or trolley trips, at an average cost of $14.69 per passenger. Breeze OnDemand trips numbered 435,604, while Breeze Plus provided another 151,682 trips to persons with “elevated transportation needs and a qualifying age, disability or income.”
- Planning and Development Services oversaw the planting of 25,810 trees.
- The Capital Projects Department “awarded or amended design contracts worth $13,233,327.69 and construction projects worth $201,797,480.10, supporting long-term infrastructure growth.” Those initiatives “resulted in the creation of 1,535 jobs with local compensation of $83,369,012.”
- Sports tourism generates an average of $100 million annually for Sarasota County.
- The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension and Sustainability program “facilitated the management of seven community gardens in Sarasota County to support access to healthy food, community development and sustainable local agriculture.” The staff also “educated 51,748 community members through classes, field visits, phone calls, emails or other direct coonsultations.”
One section of the report focuses on the “Fruitville Road Corridor”:
Another focuses on the work of the new Stormwater Department, which was created last summer:
For more information, the public may reach the Call Center at 311 or visit the county website.