Sarasota County’s property value continues to lag the boom time level before the recession
Mirroring the situation a year ago, the 2017 preliminary property values for Sarasota County and its municipalities show across-the-board jumps, the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office has reported.
And, once again, the City of North Port is leading the way, with its estimated overall value up 12.77% compared to its final 2016 number following adjustments in response to property owner challenges (figures designated post-VAB), Brian Loughery, administrative director of the Property Appraiser’s Office, announced on May 26. Last year, the increase for North Port was 12.73%.
The City of Sarasota had a 9.74% rise in its property value, compared to its 7.83% jump in the estimates released for June 1, 2016.
The preliminary estimate for the overall property value in the City of Sarasota is $9,635,158,417, compared to the 2016 post-VAB figure of $8,779,643,556.
The City of Venice saw an 8.12% increase compared to its post-VAB figure for 2016, the chart shows. Venice’s June 1, 2016 estimate was 8.67% higher than its 2015 figure.
The taxable value increase estimated for Sarasota County is 8.14% — a fact Deputy County Administrator and Chief Financial Management Officer Steve Botelho relayed to the County Commission during its May 26 budget workshop. (See the related story in this issue.)
Still, as a graphic Botelho showed the board made clear, the latest estimate of overall county property value — $54,513,787,514 — still is shy of the $59-billion level the county achieved prior to the start of the Great Recession. County staff and commissioners have emphasized that the county lost about 40% of its property value during the economic downturn.
In 2016, the post-VAB property value for the county was $50,408,519,249, Loughery’s figures show.
The June 1 property value estimates are required by state law, as local governments work on their budgets for the coming fiscal year. The final values are released by July 1.
In terms of new construction, the Sarasota County School Board led the way with $1,303,654,332, while the county’s new construction had market value of $1,303,645,332, according to a chart Loughery provided at The Sarasota News Leader’s request this week.
The building boom is not letting up, based on recent data from the City and County of Sarasota.
In his report to the County Commission regarding the county’s second quarter of the 2017 fiscal year, County Administrator Tom Harmer wrote on April 21 that, even at that point, staff had recorded a 6.6% increase in the total number of building permits issued for FY17, compared to the same period in FY16. For the current fiscal year, the figure was 16,342; for the second quarter of 2016, it was 15,332, he noted. More significantly, the 763 single-family home permits issued through the second quarter of this fiscal year represented a 21.4% hike over the number for the same period of FY16, Harmer wrote.
A graphic prepared by the county’s Planning and Development Services Department staff in February of this year showed the trend for residential units permitted in the county between 2005 and 2016, based on U.S. Census statistics. The 2016 figure of 3,926 was more than double the 2013 number of 1,815. However, in 2005 — during the boom period before the Great Recession began — residential permits hit the 8,310 mark.
The City of Sarasota’s market value figure for new construction was $262,389,903, Loughery’s May 26 chart showed; the city also had a market value of annexations put at $1,025,400.
In the 2016 fiscal year, the city processed 6,591 building permits, Jan Thornburg, senior communications manager for the city, responded on June 1 to a News Leader request for information. Since the current fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2016, she added, the city has processed 3,894 permits.
The latest Planning Division Project Status List prepared by the City of Sarasota’s Neighborhood & Development Services Department provides just a snapshot of yet more developments on the horizon for the municipality. Dated April 28, it notes, for example, that Phase II of the CitySide project at 850 Cocoanut Ave. proposes 253 residential dwelling units and about 8,700 square feet of commercial space along May Lane in a five-story structure. The site is approximately 3.61 acres, the report adds. City staff has given a partial sign-off on the project, the report notes.
For another example, Sarasota Station has been proposed as a 368-unit, multifamily residential project at 2211 Fruitville Road on 7.9 acres. Additionally, The Boulevard Sarasota — proposed at 500 and 540 N. Tamiami Trail, 1224 Boulevard of the Arts and 1235 Fifth St. — would comprise 51 residential units, about 10,918 square feet of restaurant space and 6,707 square feet of retail/office space.
For the City of North Port, the market value of new construction was estimated at $199,253,005. Venice’s figure is $109,502,844.
Among other details in Loughery’s reports, the value of the property in the Downtown Improvement District in the City of Sarasota grew about 51% — from $230,590,303 in 2016 to $349,176,675 this year. The change for the Newtown Improvement District was approximately 10%, the preliminary figures show — from $128,132,034 in 2016 to $141,455,116 this year.
The increase for the Siesta Key Village Improvement District was about 5% — from $63,555,965 in 2016 to $66,686,461 this year.