Stormwater assessments and fire assessments approved for 2025 fiscal year
One down; one to go.
On Sept. 12, the Sarasota County commissioners took their first of two required votes, unanimously approving the proposed millage rates and county budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which will begin on Oct. 1.
They also cast 5-0 votes in support of the proposed new stormwater rates and fire district assessments for the next fiscal year, as well as ad valorem millage rates for special districts, the majority of which were established to pay for lighting in specific areas.
The second and final hearing will be conducted at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, in the Commission Chambers of the County Administration Center standing at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in downtown Sarasota.
The total proposed budget is $2,089,303,625, but that includes reserves and transfers adding up to $325,807,505, a county document explained.
In late August, a number of county residents questioned county staff’s handling of stormwater issues, in the wake of the flooding in neighborhoods as Tropical Storm Debby lingered over the county in early August, dumping more than 18 inches of rain in some places.
However, no member of the public showed up for the Sept. 12 hearing to address the stormwater rates.
In fact, the only speaker who offered any comments to the board members during the session was Dwight Douglas, who explained that he was “so angry” when he read that the commissioners approved an anti-Amendment 4 resolution on a 4-1 vote on Sept. 10.
Commissioner Mark Smith was in the minority on that decision.
Douglas stressed that his appearance that evening was indeed related to the county’s budget. “We have up here over $500,000 worth of government salaries that need to be responsive to the people,” he said, referring to the board members’ salaries.
When he read an article that morning about the Sept. 10 vote, Douglas continued, he thought, “Is this being seduced by dogma? Is this some sort of disconnect from real people? Or is this really a disconnect from half the people that live here?”
“It’s real simple,” he continued. “I don’t want my church and state to co-mingle. There’s so many problems and so many things that we need to achieve here, and so many ways we can make this a great county.
“Stop wasting time on non-binding resolutions,” he told the commissioners. “Please take care of the people. Use your budget wisely.”
Getting the millage rate down
Prior to the votes that evening, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis noted that he had sent the commissioners a detailed memo several weeks ago, explaining the adjustments in the proposed 2025 fiscal year budget that were made to ensure that the millage rate for the new year would be no higher than 3 mills. (Each mill represents $1,000 of property value.)
In late June, following the second round of budget workshops, the commissioners voted unanimously to direct staff to make certain that the millage rate for the 2025 fiscal year was no higher than 3 mills. They cited the higher living expenses that their constituents have been contending with over the past couple of years.
Among the budget changes that contributed to the reduced millage rate, Lewis said on Sept. 12, was the county’s lower expense for health insurance for the new fiscal year.
In an Aug. 1 budget message, Lewis wrote that the reduction in the millage rate was achieved by various adjustments to the budgets of the departments over which the commission has control. The following were the items on the list he provided the board members:
- Contractual services and purchased transportation for on demand service (stopping service after 10:00 p.m.)
- Software maintenance for public safety systems.
- Various facilities projects, energy retrofitting, and contracted project management.
- Mandated services and Baker/Marchman Act moved to Mental Healthcare Special District Fund.
- Historical markers.
- Removal of movable bridge automation review and reduction in warehouse supplies.
- Governmental Relations budget salary for vacant position.
- Replace General Fund money for one Capital Improvement Program project.
- Jail Facility Renovation, Replacements & Upgrade Program 2 with Surtax — or penny sales tax — funding.
- Unallocated funds transferred from Human Services Advisory Council (HSAC)/Behavioral Health Advisory Council (BHAC) to the General Fund.
Further Lewis explained in the document, “When comparing the Fiscal Year 2024 Adopted Financial Plan General Fund budget of $430,501,432 to the Fiscal Year 2025 Proposed Financial Plan General Fund budget of $464,919,405, there is an overall increase of $34,417,973 or 8.0%. The Constitutional Officers and Other Boards/Agencies make-up $19,169,301 or 7.9% excluding debt transfers. In comparison, the Board controlled departments make-up $8,448,979 or 5.7% excluding new/expanded and mandated services (Florida Retirement System (FRS) impact, mandated services, ad valorem fees, Jail facilities, enterprise related Internal Service Charges (ISCs), and Operating Impacts of Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects) and debt service/transfers.”
That same budget document also explains, “The General Fund is the largest fund within the Financial Plan. It provides funding for key activities of Board departments, the county’s Constitutional Officers, and Other Boards/Agencies. This fund supports significant activities within county government including public safety, parks and recreation, libraries, public transit, and other general governmental operations. The General Fund is primarily supported by property taxes, which are assessed based on the taxable value of property in the county. Countywide taxable value declined by 37.5% from its height in Fiscal Year 2008 through Fiscal Year 2013. However, values have rebounded since Fiscal Year 2013, and the Fiscal Year 2025 taxable value of $103.9 billion is an increase of 10.3%.”
Specific millage rates and stormwater fees
During the Sept. 12 hearing, Lewis pointed out that the combination of the county’s operating millage rate for the 2025 fiscal year and the millage rate for the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP) was lowered by 0.0452 mills, while the millage rate linked to the voter-approved debt on the bonds issued for the completion of The Legacy Trail from North Port to downtown Sarasota was down 0.0073 mills.
The millage resolution that the commissioners approved did acknowledge that the General Operating and Mosquito Control District rates for FY 2025 were higher than the “rolled-back” rates would have been. “Rolled-back” rates refer to the millage rates that would have been set to ensure that the county took in the same amount of property tax revenue that it anticipated for the 2024 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.
The resolution further noted that the General Operating millage rate of 3.2288 mills for the 2025 fiscal year is 5.96% higher than the rolled-back rate of 3.0473 mills.
For the Mosquito Control District, the millage of 0.0460 mills is up 7.23%, compared to the rolled-back rate of 0.0429 mills.
The ESLPP debt service millage is 0.0712 mills for FY 2025, while the Legacy Trail debt millage is 0.0396 mills.
The total millage rate for FY 2025 is 3.3856 mills.
The proposed budget does include raises — based on performance evaluations — for county employees who are not members of unions, as well as contractual increases for staff who are members of bargaining organizations. (See the related story in this issue about the new Fire Department contract.)
In regard to the stormwater assessments: For the 2025 fiscal year, that resolution said, the service cost to be assessed is $30,411,653.92. The base service cost is $5,855,769.60, the resolution added. Therefore, each tax parcel will be assessed a rate of $30.40.
The Stormwater Impervious Service Cost for FY 2025, the resolution continued, is $24,555,884.32. The rate of assessment for that is $15.14 per net ESU; each ESU represents 500 square feet of impervious surface, the county’s website explains.
As for the ad valorem district millage rates: The property owners in the specific districts pay the annual assessments.
For 2025, the two largest year-over-year millage decreases were for the Riverview Manor Lighting District, whose rate of 0.2043 mills marks a drop of 33.65%, compared to the rolled-back rate of 0.3079, a chart showed; while the Venetian Gardens Lighting District millage rate of 0.157 mills is down 32.42%, compared to the rolled-back rate of 0.2230.
The Clark Road Industrial Lighting District also will see one of the larger decreases. The FY 2025 millage rate is 0.0686 mills, which marked a decline of 14.78%, compared to the rolled-back rate, the chart noted.
The FY 2025 millage rate for the Siesta Key Village Public Improvement District — the area where the county implemented upgrades, including paver sidewalks, to make the Village appear more resort-like — is lower by 9.25%, at 2.688 mills. The Village project was completed in early 2009.