Commissioner Knight calling for discussion of proposal before board delves into other topics related to 2026 fiscal year budget
On June 3, as they conducted a regular meeting, the Sarasota County commissioners voted unanimously to direct County Administrator Jonathan Lewis to proceed with removing stormwater activities from the Public Works Department and creating a standalone Stormwater Department.
Commissioner Tom Knight first broached the subject of giving the county’s Stormwater Division more autonomy. Then, Commissioner Mark Smith suggested the new department. Chair Joe Neunder joined them in emphasizing the urgency of the need to ensure that appropriate levels of stormwater maintenance are being provided countywide, in the wake of severe flooding during the 2024 storm season.
“We need to act today,” Neunder said. “We need people that are doing stormwater only 24/7/365.”
On July 1 and 2, during their workshops focused on crafting the county’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year — which will begin on Oct. 1 — the commissioners will review details that county staff has provided about the logistics and financial aspects of the proposed creation of a separate Stormwater Department.
In a June 24 email that he sent to his colleagues, Commissioner Knight wrote, “When we next meet on July 1, prior to launching discussions about the county’s budget, I would like to discuss once again the topic of stormwater management. In my opinion,” he added, “it is important to address this now as it may impact our next [fiscal year] budget.”
He then noted the June 3 vote, which, he continued, called for exploring “the formation of an independent stormwater management department that reports to the county administrator.”
Knight copied Lewis and County Attorney Joshua Moye when he sent his email to his colleagues.
Contrary to Knight’s desire in regard to timing, slides related to a new Stormwater Department do not appear until Page 173 — out of 204 — in the master document for the budget workshops that county staff released on June 24 for the sessions on July 1 and 2.
The materials are included with others related to the Public Works Department. All of the department budget information and proposals are listed — as in the past — in alphabetical order.
The very first of the slides related to a Stormwater Department shows that the budget this fiscal year for Public Works — within which the Stormwater Division exists — is $76,916,677. The largest portion of those funds — $35,597,172 — is in what the county calls the Stormwater Environmental Utility Fund. That contains all of the stormwater assessments that county property owners pay.
In contrast, the county’s Transportation Fund holds $29,509,285 of the Public Works’ budget money for this fiscal year, the slide notes.
The second slide in the group explains that if the commissioners want to proceed with establishing the new department, they need to consider that a director; a senior manager of the Field Services group; and an administrative specialist to handle the business aspect of the operations would be needed.
Further, the budget workshop slide calls for a second manager to oversee Field Services Controls for what would remain of Public Works — a Transportation Department.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry this week, the county’s Human Resources Department reported that Spencer Anderson, director of Public Works, has been a county employee for 24 years. His salary is $179,233.60.
For comparison purposes, County Administrator Lewis, who received a 5% pay raise from the County Commission last fall, makes $284,252.80.
Paul Semenec, manager of the Stormwater Division, has been on staff 25 years, the Human Resources staff noted. His salary is $125,465.60.
As the News Leader has reported, the county was advertising for an assistant director of Public Works prior to the commission discussion about setting up a new Stormwater Department. The advertisement on the county website for that assistant director’s position noted that the starting salary would be $165,000, “based on experience.”
Lewis told the board members on June 3 that the ad would be pulled until they have an opportunity to discuss whether to proceed with establishing a separate Stormwater Department.
Reassigning assistant county administrator to Public Works
In the meantime, at 3:31 p.m. on June 25, Lewis sent a memo to the commissioners, advising them that he had reassigned Assistant County Administrator Mark Cunningham “to allow him to focus exclusively on stormwater efforts.”
The goal, Lewis indicated, is to ensure that Public Works — “and as needed, the entire organization” — is “moving with maximum haste” to undertake the stormwater maintenance required to protect neighborhoods from flooding during this hurricane season, given all the damage that occurred during the 2024 hurricane season. (See the related article in this issue.)
Lewis added in the memo that the reassignment will allow Cunningham “to supplement the efforts of Spencer Anderson on a day to day basis. He will be making sure that you as the policy makers are receiving at least weekly updates on the issues in Stormwater that are of concern to you.”
On June 12, the News Leader filed a public records request with the county, seeking copies of the weekly stormwater reports provided to the commissioners since May 16. It was not until late in the afternoon of Thursday, June 26 — just before the deadline for publication of this issue — that the News Leader received responses to that request.
Budgeting alternatives
As shown in further slides in the master document for the July 1-2 commission workshops, county staff proposes that, if it won final board approval, the new Stormwater Department in the 2026 fiscal year would have an operating budget of $36,993,142. The amount would represent an overall budget increase of $273,519, the related slide says.
Along with the Stormwater Environmental Utility Fund, the slide points out, a second department account would hold $1,122,451, which would come from the county’s “Navigable Waterways Maintenance & Assessment Fee Funds and Stormwater Operating Grants.”
The separate Transportation Department budget for FY 2026 would be $40,496,398, another slide says. That department’s creation would increase the expense to the county’s General Fund in the next fiscal year by $149,672, the slide points out.
The largest portion of the General Fund each year is made up of the property tax revenue that the county receives. State revenue-sharing funds, Florida Power & Light Co. franchise fees, and gas tax revenue are among the other funds that are deposited into the General Fund, which is considered the most flexible of all of the county “pots” from which money can be used. If a need for funds arises during a given fiscal year, and no other county source is appropriate to provide them, they come out of the General Fund.
The account primarily covers the expenses of county departments that generate no revenue of their own, such as Human Services and Communications.
Yet other slides in the master budget workshops document provide more scenarios, depending on whether the new Stormwater Department would or would not handle waterway maintenance. Related slides show the relevant staffing needs, as well.
With waterway maintenance included, the Stormwater Department’s operating budget would be $51,900,393 in the next fiscal year, which would necessitate a $14,907,251 increase in the FY 2026 budget, compared to the budget for this fiscal year. Increases in the annual stormwater assessments appear to be an option for providing the extra funds, based on one slide.
The July 1-2 workshop agendas show that the Public Works budget discussion for the 2026 fiscal year has been anticipated for July 2. However, it is not uncommon for the commissioners to work more quickly than staff expects.
Moreover — as Commissioner Knight has proposed — the Stormwater Department discussion could be moved up to early on the July 1 agenda.
Both workshops will take place in the Third Floor Think Tank of the County Administration Center that stands at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in downtown Sarasota.