Commissioner Neunder questions remaining $12-milion reserve balance
A request of the Sarasota County Public Works Department to transfer $5.7 million from a reserve fund to another fund was scheduled on the May 20 County Commission agenda as a Presentation Upon Request.
That is a designation that county staff typically accords non-controversial items, in an effort to save time for the board as it moves through an agenda.
However, as the heading suggests, any commissioner can request a presentation, and that is exactly what Commissioner Mark Smith did the morning of May 20 as the board was meeting at the County Administration Center in downtown Sarasota.
The agenda item formally said that the request was to amend the county’s 2025 fiscal year budget “to appropriate funding for the Stormwater Systemwide Infrastructure Maintenance, Repair, and Restoration [program].”
Yet, during the ensuing discussion with Spencer Anderson, director of Public Works, Chair Joe Neunder at one point said that he was shocked when he went through the materials in the agenda packet — especially in regard to the amount of stormwater assessment funds that Public Works had sitting in a reserve account: approximately $17.7 million, based on the amounts discussed that morning.
(March budget materials provided to the commissioners showed that the Stormwater Division is required to maintain 90 days of operating funds for emergency and/or contingency purposes. That is the 440 Fund, a chart noted. The amount the fund held at the Sept. 30 2023 end of the 2023 fiscal year was $5,081,478. See the related article in this issue.)
Since their December 2024 retreat, the commissioners have put emphasis on addressing stormwater problems countywide, especially in regard to neighborhoods whose residents had to contend with flooding that left homes severely damaged — many, on a repetitive basis — as the county endured Tropical Storm Debby in August 2024, followed by Hurricane Helene in late September 2024 and Hurricane Milton in early October 2024.
In the May 20 agenda packet, the staff memo about the proposed funds transfer explained, “The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season was among the most active on record, with multiple named storms impacting and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities in Sarasota County’s stormwater infrastructure. In light of these conditions, a request to expedite the allocation and prioritization of funding for Systemwide Stormwater Infrastructure Maintenance, Repair, and Restoration activities is necessary.”
When Commissioner Smith asked Anderson of Public Works to provide clarification about the Public Works request, Anderson told him that the $5.7 million would be used “for ongoing projects from Hurricane Ian … and extraordinary maintenance” in preparation for this year’s hurricane season, plus the county response “to the 2024 season.”
“Folks that have been paying into the stormwater fund with their taxes are wondering why we need the $5.7 [million] addition,” Smith told Anderson.
Anderson clarified that the money represented annual stormwater assessments already paid by county property owners.
“This was money that was already collected for stormwater maintenance that was in a different ‘bucket,’ I guess,” Smith rephrased Anderson’s answer. (Smith noted that Nicole Rissler, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department, often refers to “buckets of money” when she discusses how her staff has assembled funding for specific projects.
Chair Neunder next asked for an explanation about the $5.7 million, saying, “The numbers here are somewhat nebulous in my mind …”
When Neunder asked whether the $5.7 million would come out of the 440 Fund, Anderson told him it would. It is part of the fund balance in the 440 Fund, Anderson added.
“I’m trying to understand why there’s considerable amounts of money in that [reserve] fund,” Neunder responded.
Anderson replied that the stormwater assessments that the county receives are placed in that account “if we don’t have special expenses that require us to pull from that fund balance.”
Neunder inquired as to whether money from that fund balance should have been used for new Public Works employees, for example. He continued, “Is this money that should have been used for maintenance? Is this money that should have been used for capital improvements? How long has that $5.7 [million] just been sitting in there?”
Neunder then asked whether county policy calls for a specific amount of money to be kept in that fund balance, saying he could find no details on that point.
Part of the fund balance, Anderson responded, represents the 90-day emergency reserve that is required by county policy.
Moreover, Anderson explained, “We do accrue funds for specific purposes, specifically for some capital projects,” including the money needed to build the planned operations facility for the Field Services Team within Public Works.
Anderson added, “A large portion of the fund balance is used for our annual, extraordinary maintenance” through what he called the department’s “3R” program” — project repair, rehabilitation and replacement. “That’s what funds those major rehabs of existing infrastructure.”
When Commissioner Tom Knight asked for further clarification, Anderson told him that the $5.7 million would be moved into an account from which it could be “used now.”
The Public Works staff does have a plan for its fund balance, Anderson added. “However, we’re adjusting that right now for more immediate needs” for activities in the aftermath of the 2024 storm season and in preparation for the 2025 hurricane season, he said.
The other $12 million
“I know budgets are moving targets,” Knight told Anderson “They’re like breathing documents.”
Knight then asked Anderson whether the $5.7 million was money that exceeded the Public Works Department staff’s projections for the fund balance at the Oct. 1, 2024 start of the current fiscal year.
Anderson told him, “No, it was part of the existing fund balance that we’re just moving from one account to another. … It’s definitely part of the known budget. It wasn’t unexpected in any way.”
When Commissioner Smith asked how much money would remain in the fund balance after the transfer of the $5.7 million, Anderson estimated the figure at “roughly $12 million.”
Smith asked whether that amount would be used for stormwater maintenance and emergency purposes.
“Correct,” Anderson told him, adding that the funds also could be used for capital projects.
When Smith inquired about any planned capital projects that would require use of some of the money, Anderson replied that part of the funds would go toward the county’s Alligator Creek Restoration Project, in addition to the future operating facility for the Field Services Team and the ongoing “3R” projects: repair, rehabilitation and replacement.
As he understood Anderson’s answer, Smith said, it appeared that all of the $12 million had been dedicated to specific uses. Thus, no fund balance would remain in that account.
“We have a plan for the reserves,” Anderson replied, but that plan can be adjusted at any time, he indicated.
Neunder told Anderson that he wanted to make sure that county staff and the commissioners were being open with the members of the public, noting that the Public Works Department budget for the Public Works budget of less than $30 million this fiscal year has been projected to rise to $35 million in the 2026 fiscal year.
“When I looked at this,” Neunder continued, “seeing those numbers come up [was] kind of shocking to me.”
Then Neunder asked for certainty that Anderson had reported to Smith that $12 million would be left in the reserve fund — what Neunder called “unspent money.”
“Yes, sir,” Anderson told him, reiterating his earlier comments to Smith about plans for the money.
“We’ve heard the board and the public,” Anderson continued, “and we’re utilizing available funds to make sure that we take care of things that need to be done prior to 2025 storm season.”
Neunder told Anderson that he did not believe any member of the commission would disagree “with wanting to support your endeavors here for our community. We gotta get on this.”
Seeing that none of his colleagues had further questions for Anderson, and pointing out that no members of the public had signed up to address the board on the agenda item, Neunder asked for a motion.
Smith made it, approving the transfer of the funds, and Commissioner Teresa Mast seconded it. The motion passed 5-0.