Percentage of respondents reporting satisfaction with quality of life declines over 2024 figure
For the sixth consecutive year, the most important Sarasota County issue, as shown in the results of the county’s 2025 Citizen Opinion Survey, is “Population growth/New Development,” members of the University of South Florida/HCP & Associates survey team have reported to the county commissioners.
That issue hit its high point in 2022, a chart in the 2025 results showed. That year, 31.4% of the respondents identified it as their chief concern. Last year, 25.6% them chose it, but this year, the figure dropped to 23.6%.
In second place this year, “Crime” was cited by 10% of the 1,250 county residents who took the survey. “There are no serious problems” was in third place, with 9.6% of the respondents making that comment, while “Economy/jobs” was in fourth place, and “Traffic/Transportation” was in fifth place.
Alluding to one-on-one discussions that Associate Professor Joshua Scacco of the University of South Florida (USF) School of Communications had had with each of the commissioners prior to the Oct. 21 presentation of the survey results, Commissioner Teresa Mast talked about the public perception of growth and development, as well as infrastructure needs. “It wasn’t so much sometimes the new neighbors that they have,” she continued. “It’s the traffic. Traffic, traffic, traffic, traffic.”
In regard to another perennial question in the survey — “How would you rate the overall quality of life in Sarasota County?” — the number of residents who said it was “Excellent” represented 53% of the total, with 42% saying it is “Good.”
The 2024 Citizen Opinion Survey found 56% of the respondents rating their quality of life as “Excellent,” with 42% choosing “Good.”
A related graph in the 2025 survey showed that 45% of the respondents had lived in the county more than 10 years; another 40% had been county residents for six to 10 years.
Even though the combined percentage for “Excellent” and “Good” was lower this year, Isabella Rengifo, a USF intern who worked with the survey team, called the result “Very high.”
A slide in the presentation explained that this was the sixth Sarasota County survey with a sample size of 1,250. The survey was conducted from July 9 through Aug. 29, the slide added, with the average call lasting 13 minutes. The margin of error for answers was plus or minus 2.77%.
Yet another annual question found that 52% of the survey takers this year reported being “Very satisfied” with county services, which — team members explained — exclude services of the Sarasota County School Board. Another 42% said they were “Somewhat satisfied” with county government services.
Again, Rengifo characterized the percentage of “Excellent” responses as “very high.” She told the commissioners, “You should be very proud of yourselves.”
Last year, 60% of the survey takers reported being “Very satisfied” with county services, while 34% chose “Somewhat satisfied.”
A related slide in the 2025 survey said that 50% or more of all respondents reported that they “Definitely” would recommend the county “to a friend, family member, or acquaintance” as the place to retire, spend a vacation, raise children, live, work and open a business.
The top response in that group — cited by 68% of the survey takers— was recommending the county as the place to retire.
“These numbers are quite higher in 2025 across all categories,” Rengifo pointed out.
At one point, Chair Joe Neunder asked Scacco of USF to clarify what “Somewhat well” or “Somewhat satisfied” means in terms of the survey results. “Is that like a ‘C’? Is that like a ‘B,’ ” Neunder added.
Scacco replied that if answers were transferred to a numerical scale, 1 would represent “Very satisfied” or “Very well,” with 2 meaning “Somewhat satisfied” or “Somewhat well,” while 3 “would be “Somewhat poorly”; and 4 would be “Very poorly.”
Likewise, “Somewhat well” would represent a B, Scacco noted. Thus, the top answers to the current questions would be mostly A’s and B’s, he told Neunder. “You’re seeing a lot of bunching up towards that ‘Well,’ ” he added.
Another annual question asks respondents what creates the greatest stress on their households. This year, 20% chose “None of the above,” followed by 18% who noted “Household expenses.” Only 12% cited “Taxes in general.”
Scacco told the commissioners that if they considered the six-year trend for that question, they could see “a steady sort of decline over the last three years … You’re seeing that household finance number creeping up just a bit more every year.”
This year, he pointed out, the “No stresses” answer statistically is tied with “Household finances,” with 20% of respondents citing the former and 18% the latter. The survey team, he added, will put extra focus on watching that trend, to see “if that carries out over time …”
Commissioner Tom Knight told Scacco that it appeared to him, based on the answers, that county residents are “kind of satisfied with how we’re spending their money”; they seem more upset about the costs of goods over which the county has no control.
Scacco replied, “Residents are not seeing … county spending priorities” as a factor in their higher household expenses.
Contacting the county, county spending priorities and economic drivers
Yet one more traditional question on the survey regards residents’ experiences in contacting the county.
Only 85 of the respondents had done so this year, a second USF intern who worked with the survey team, Kade Kranjc, pointed out. Their top three reasons for doing so, a slide said, related to garbage collection (32%), “Other” (23%) and “Building inspections” (10%).
The largest portion of those who contacted the county did so by phone — 82%.
Of those 85 people, another slide noted, 90% reported having received the correct information; 82% said they were treated with respect; and another 82% responded that they were helped in a timely fashion.
Those numbers were down from the 2024 figures, as well. Last year, 98% reported that they were treated with respect, 98% said they had received the correct information, and 83% replied that they were helped in a timely fashion.
Nonetheless, Kranjc pointed out to the commissioners that, over the past five years, all of the positive answers have been above the 80% mark. “These are all overwhelmingly good [figures],” he emphasized of the 2025 data.
Scacco acknowledged that the number of persons who had reported this year that they had contacted the county “is small … But I think context here is really important.”
The 2024 survey found that only about 55 people had contacted the county, he pointed out. When such an increase in volume occurs, as the survey found this year, Scacco added, it translates into “a significant amount of labor on county resources …”
In years past, Scacco continued, the surveys had shown “right around 55 or 60%” of the respondents had contacted the county.
“Even with that increased volume [this year],” he said, “you still see numbers” such as those regarding high satisfaction with county services. “That’s really remarkable.”
Kranjc also discussed the responses to the routine question about the perceptions of the county’s spending priorities, compared to those in 2024. He noted, “This is what we kind of refer to as a ‘Goldilocks’ question, as in are the spending priorities just right, or do they need to be adjusted up or down …”
This year, Kranjc said that 74% of respondents believe that the county’s priorities are “about right,” calling that figure “incredibly high.”
Whenever someone said the priorities needed to be modified, that individual was asked to provide an answer regarding the reprioritization of spending. Of those respondents, Kranjc continued, 18% cited the need for more focus on “Roads/Transit/Traffic,” with 16% naming “Affordable Housing,” 14% choosing “Growth Management,” and 11% pointing to “Crime/Police.”
The trend for answers to the spending priorities question has remained about the same over the past five years, Kranjc added.
The data for the 2024 survey showed that the top answer for the 11% of survey takers who said that the budget priorities should be modified was “General cuts/Don’t know,” cited by 18%. Another 17% said more money should be spend on “Environment (Waterways/Flooding/Conservation),” while 16% pointed to “Crime/Police.”
Another routine question asks respondents, “What do you think is the single biggest thing that can contribute to the growth of Sarasota County’s economy?”
Eco-tourism is No. 1 this year, Scacco told the board members, adding that that relates to the beaches and parks and recreation — activities “that bring in tourists.”
Looking at the trends for that question since 2020, he continued, it is clear that eco-tourism “has topped out at No. 1 …”
This year, 15% of the survey takers noted “Eco-Tourism,” while 14% cited “Arts and culture” and 13% responded with “Health and wellness.”
Current topics
Moving on to current topics, in regard to which the commissioners in the spring provided the survey team direction, Scacco reported the findings for the question, “In your view, how [effectively] has Sarasota County balanced new development with preserving the character of existing communities?” Eighty percent of the survey respondents reported that the county had been “ ‘Very effective’ ” or ‘Somewhat effective’ at achieving that balance,” he said.
Next, the team asked “How satisfied are you with Sarasota County’s efforts to ensure new growth provides clear benefits, such as jobs, local business opportunities, and improved amenities, without harming quality of life?” The responses, Scacco pointed out, showed that 79% of respondents chose “Very satisfied” or “Somewhat satisfied.”
Another question focused on infrastructure: “As Sarasota County grows, how well do you feel the county government is currently meeting infrastructure needs (such as roads, utilities, parks)?”
Those responses showed that 71% of respondents said the county was doing “Very well” or “Somewhat well,” Scacco said.
Then Scacco told the board members that, in regard to the infrastructure question, “We asked [the respondents] how they would rank order — particular priorities — on this issue. … We know, obviously, infrastructure needs are out there. People note them …”
Given five topics, he continued, “What we find is the highest priority is ‘Expanding roads and bridges.’ ”
Scacco also reminded the board members that this is the first time the survey team has asked the question about infrastructure.
Turning to two questions that the County Commission wanted the survey team to ask this year about Midnight Pass, the reopened waterway between the Gulf and Little Sarasota Bay on south Siesta Key, Scacco presented a slide showing that 54% strongly supported the county’s “allocating funding or resources to ensure [it] remains open for public and environmental benefits,” with another 33% somewhat supporting the allocation of resources for those purposes. Thus, about 87% of the respondents were in favor of the idea, Scacco pointed out.
Moreover, he told the commissioners, the data that the survey team collected this year in regard to Midnight Pass was much better than the data from the 2024 survey, because the waterway was reopened during the 2024 hurricane season. Scacco noted the fact that the public has had an opportunity to “think through” what has happened since the pass has remained open following Hurricane Milton’s strike on the Key on Oct. 9, 2024.
In conjunction with the first Midnight Pass question, Scacco continued, the survey team also asked, “In your opinion, what is the most valuable benefit that the reopened Midnight Pass brings to Sarasota County?” The answer with the greatest response — 60% — was “Environmental restoration and improved water quality,” he said. Another 23% of the respondents noted the increased recreational and tourism opportunities.
‘Significant well of support for county’s work’
“Given everything that our coast has faced over the last year,” Scacco told the commissioners, “there is a significant well of support for the county’s work, particularly the county employees who helped … through the hurricanes and through the last year. You see that reflected, I think, in many of the survey results.”
Nonetheless, he continued, “We do see some of the challenges related to population growth and development … And we’re seeing those household finances and taxes in general creeping up as potential stressors for Sarasota County residents.”
Following Scacco’s remarks, Commissioner Mast told him, “I think the thing that was super important for me … is the ability for a county to sustain this high of a level of A’s and B’s,” referencing the exchange that Chair Neunder had with Scacco. Achieving such survey results, Mast pointed out, is “a lot of hard work.”
Further, Mast said, “I want to give a shout-out to our 311 team,” referring to the county’s Contact Center. “They are a small but mighty team,” who deal with so many people, as county statistics have shown, she added.
Moreover, Mast emphasized the work of county staff members in general, saying, they “deserve a lot of credit” for the survey findings. “They work really hard all day long, every day.” On top of that, she noted, the staff members last year had to deal with the crises associated with the storms that struck the county. She added that the aftermath of those events brought out the worst as well as the best in people.
“I’m very proud to say that our staff really stepped up to the plate,” Mast said.
Commissioner Ron Cutsinger thanked Scacco for all of the trend details. Then he told Scacco, “Frankly, I was expecting a lot worse numbers, given the fact that last year was so difficult for our county.” Instead, Cutsinger noted the “really positive numbers.”
During his remarks, Commissioner Cutsinger also asked Scacco whether the respondents have an opportunity “to answer in a free-flow way,” instead of choosing from multiple choices.
Scacco explained that the survey takers volunteer answers on what he called “open-ended categories,” such as the most important issue in the county and the greatest stressor. Then the survey team uses a code to count the answer in the applicable category based on the question. “That way,” he added, “we’re hearing the respondent’s voice, which is helpful …”
He likened that process to the types of comments that the commissioners hear from constituents in their districts.
“That’s reliable information,” Cutsinger pointed out, “because it’s coming straight from them.”
Chair Neunder did ask Scacco whether the survey team finds residents to be confused about where they live, in terms of which local government provides their services.
In the full report on the survey, Scacco responded, the team discussed that issue. The team members always ask respondents where they think they live and then use the information the respondents provide to identify their actual locations. “There’s a little bit of a difference.”