County constitutional officers had asked for more information about February budget workshop commissioners scheduled in August
On Dec. 16, Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis asked the county commissioners what they expect to take place during the February 2026 budget workshop with the county constitutional officers that the board members agreed to earlier this year.
The consensus answer was that the session will focus on keeping costs down for the next two fiscal years — 2027 and 2028. It also will provide the constitutional officers — such as the sheriff and the tax collector — the opportunity to bring up one-time budget needs that they feel they must pursue, commissioners said.
No date for that workshop has been provided.
As part of his report to the commissioners during their regular meeting this week, in Venice, County Administrator Lewis said that he had heard from a couple of the constitutional officers, indicating that they are not certain what the goal of the February workshop is.
“I told them to go back and listen to the meeting,” Lewis added, referring to the Aug. 19 commission discussion during the final budget workshop for the 2026 fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1.
Nonetheless, Lewis continued, questions from the constitutionals had persisted.
A memo that Lewis had included in the Dec. 16 agenda packet explained, “To ensure consistency and alignment with the Board’s goals, I am requesting Board direction on the specific information or topics you would like the Constitutional Officers to address during the February budget workshop. This will allow us to provide clear guidance as they prepare and consider their participation.”
Commissioner Teresa Mast told Lewis on Tuesday, “What I’m really looking for is clear direction on where they’re going to come in on their budget, and I do mean percentage-wise.” She noted that she and her colleagues had agreed that a 1.6% General Fund increase in all individual budgets — from the constitutional officers and county-controlled departments — should be the maximum for the 2027 fiscal year, which will begin on Oct. 1, 2026.
The General Fund is the most flexible source of revenue for county spending; it pays for operations of departments that do not generate any revenue or insufficient revenue to cover their expenses. The primary source of money for that fund is property tax revenue.
The motion that Commissioner Mark Smith made on Aug. 19 — which his colleagues unanimously approved — also called for annual increases not to exceed 3.6% for the General Fund for Fiscal Years 2028 through 2030.
During the Dec. 16 discussion, Mast further pointed out that if a constitutional officer will have a request for a need that does not entail recurring expenses, the February session will be “their opportunity to make that very clear and very concise …” Her position, she stressed, is that none of the constitutional officers should come back to the board after that FY 2027 budget has been approved to seek an uptick in spending.
She added, “I want this to all be very transparent, very clear …”
“Same as Commissioner Mast,” Commissioner Tom Knight said
“A lot of these concerns could have been maybe vetted in August,” he continued, noting that that budget workshop “was a minimally attended event.”
Only District 12 State Attorney Ed Brodsky, Public Defender Larry Eger, Supervisor of Elections Ron Turner and District 12 Medical Examiner Russell Vega appeared before the board during that session.
In advance of that workshop, the commissioners had directed Lewis to notify all of the constitutional officers that the commissioners were hoping that the constitutional officers might be able to lower the budgets that they had presented to the commission over two days of workshops at the beginning of July. The concern that board members stressed was the need to reduce future spending out of the county’s General Fund and build back up what staff calls the Economic Uncertainty Reserve Fund, so it would hold enough money for 60 days of county operations. An Office of Financial Management slide presented to the board on Aug. 19 showed that staff had to pull $42,474,191 out of the reserve fund to balance the FY 2026 budget.
‘Our checkbook is only so thick’
During the Dec. 16 discussion, Knight pointed out that the constitutional officers need to understand the commissioners’ budget concerns for the upcoming years, and they need to realize “that our checkbook is only so thick.”
This week, commissioners continued to express worry about the effect that state action may have on the amount of property tax revenue they receive annually. If a significant portion of those funds is lost, that would necessitate their cutting spending on services to the public, they have emphasized.
Moreover, as Knight noted during the budget workshop discussion, “We’ve heard it loud and clear from Tallahassee” that local governments’ budget growth has been under review by members of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ staff, akin to the Department of Government Efficiency operations conducted at the federal level.
Referring to the constitutionals, Knight continued, “I think it’s important for them to be in the room [in February 2026],” to ensure that rumors and misunderstandings do not occur in regard to the commission’s budget process.
He stressed the need for “looking at each other in the eyes and talking like people expect grown adults and public in government to do, especially when you’re dealing with $2.5 billion of [the taxpayers’] money.”
That figure is a reference to the total county budget for this fiscal year.
Nonetheless, Knight noted of the constitutional officers, “We’re sensitive to their needs,” adding, “I was on the other side of it” during three terms as the county sheriff.
“I think Aug. 19 … would have been a good starting point” for the budget discussions between the constitutional officers and the commissioners, “and most chose not to come talk to us,” Knight reiterated his earlier point.
“I think all we’re really asking for is help,” Knight said, as well as understanding. “I have no intentions of raising taxes,” he told his colleagues.
“I think everything’s on the table for [that February workshop],” he added.
Chair Joe Neunder noted that the 2027 fiscal year budget “will be significantly different. We are being extremely proactive in our approach … We are going to be incredibly tight with the way we spend our money.”
He also pointed out, “We know something will be on the ballot in November [2026],” referring to proposed state referenda on lower property taxes. “It gives us one [county] budget cycle to be very prudent in our approach to budgeting,” Neunder continued. “Once we see what happens in November [2026], we hope to be in a much better position financially to prepare for [the] fiscal impact,” which could be in the range of $20 million to $40 million for the county, he indicated, depending on the what the Legislature approves for that General Election ballot and what voters pass.
The commission also is going to have to talk about the levels of service that county residents will be willing to accept, with less money to pay for those services, Neunder emphasized.
“We need to go out and explain that to the public, saying, ‘We’re a little short here, so where can we trim [the budget] and still be OK with that.’ ” he continued. “We’re going to have to be able to pivot.”
Addressing the people seated in the Commission Chambers within the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice, Neunder said, “Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen: We’re going to have a very interesting, perhaps arduous budgetary cycle next year. … I know this board will be engaged with all of you.”
At that point, Commissioner Knight pointed out that the board members also need to address county assessments for the next fiscal year, as “they’re huge budget increases in the pocketbooks of our citizens. So we need to put everything on the table, not just the General Fund.”
When Neunder asked County Administrator Lewis whether the discussion had provided him sufficient information to convey to the constitutional officers, Lewis replied that he planned to send all of the constitutional officers a link to that part of the Dec. 16 meeting video, along with a written summary of the board remarks.