Preliminary data show county value up 2.26%, while City of Sarasota realizes 3.17% climb from 2025 certified figure
During an April 20 presentation to the Sarasota City Commission, Kelly Strickland, the city’s finance director, reported that the city’s property value had been projected to rise about 4% this year.
That increase would have been less than two-thirds of the nearly 6.26% uptick that the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office reported by the state’s July 1, 2025 deadline for the figures. (That timing was established to enable local governments to approve their “not-to-exceed” millage rates for the new fiscal year, as Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices are mailed out to property owners in August.)
Yet, the forecast Strickland gave the City Commission in April proved to be a bit off the mark, as shown in the preliminary figures that the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office issued on May 22, just before the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The climb from the 2025 certified property value for the city is 3.17%, as shown in those documents, which Chief Deputy Property Appraiser Brian Loughery provided to The Sarasota News Leader at its request.
In response to a subsequent News Leader inquiry, City of Sarasota Communications Specialist Luke Mocherman reported in a May 22 email that the 3.17% increase “will generate an additional $1,925,192 in property tax revenue.”
Preliminary property values are required to be released by June 1 each year, in accord with another state deadline.
For Sarasota County, the increase from the 2025 certified property value to the June 1 value is 2.26%.
During the County Commission’s March budget workshop, the county’s Office of Financial Management staff noted that it was using the state’s March 2025 property value estimates in preparing budget projections for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The uptick for the 2027 fiscal year — which will begin on Oct. 1 — was put at 4.3%.
However, the new state estimate for the 2027 fiscal year, released in August 2025, was only 0.4%, the relevant slide showed.
Prior to August 2025, the slide pointed out, the state released one, five-year projection for each county, provided by the state Office of Economic & Demographic Research (EDR). In August 2025, county staff explained, the state began using three different projections to determine a new, overall estimate for each county.
The slide noted that the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) was predicting that Sarasota County would not realize any increase in its property value for the 2027 fiscal year. The Florida Economic Advisors (FEA) estimate for FY 2027 was a 2.9% increase, while the EDR called for a jump of 11.7%.
The highest uptick among the June 1 preliminary values in the Property Appraiser’s Office data is for the City of North Port: That is an increase of 5.61% , compared to the 2025 certified value.
The Town of Longboat Key actually has had a loss of property value, based on the figures that Chief Deputy Property Appraiser Loughrey released to local government leaders on May 22. The figure is down 1.15%, compared to the 2025 certified value.
The City of Venice has the second lowest increase: a change of 0.07%, compared to the 2025 certified property value.
Finally, the Sarasota County School Board’s property value inched up by 1.09%, compared to the 2025 certified value.
The June 1 estimated taxable property values for the county, the School Board and all of the municipalities are as follows:
- Sarasota County — $112,369,122,743.
- Sarasota County School Board — $118,437,423,499.
- City of Sarasota — $20,095,687,329.
- City of Venice — $7,702,121,109.
- Town of Longboat Key — $6,979,174,983.
- City of North Port — $11,461,149,724.
Last year, Sarasota County’s property value released by the June 1 deadline was up 5.97%, compared to its 2024 certified figure, while the uptick for the School Board was 2.87%.
In 2025, the Town of Longboat Key realized the biggest jump from its 2024 certified property value: 13.26%, while the City of North Port was in second place, with 8.51%.
The City of Venice saw its June 1 value rise 4.63% in 2025, compared to its 2024 certified value.
Less construction evident, year-over-year
Along with the property value data, Chief Deputy Property Appraiser Loughrey has released the market values of new construction in each of the local government bodies:
Sarasota County and the School Board — for which the values are the same, at $3,160,108,998 — saw a year-over-year drop of approximately 27%, compared to their 2025 values of $4,323,468,507.
The new figure for the City of Sarasota — $367,123,700 — marks a decline of nearly 36%. The 2025 total was $577,215,547.
The City of Venice’s change in value year-over-year represents a decrease of close to 37%. Its new figure is $243,436,600, compared to its 2025 total of $388,724,740.
For the Town of Longboat Key, the new value — $52,917,900 — is less than one-tenth of the 2025 value of $546,945,100.
Finally, the decrease year-over-year for the City of North Port is less than 1%. That city’s 2026 total is $883,122,800, compared to the 2025 figure of $889,672,800.
Among other information included in the reports, the value of property in the Siesta Key Village Public Improvement District fell from $110,875,386 last year to $104,105,808, a drop of approximately 6%.
That district comprises the portion of the Key where the county completed an improvement project in early 2009, to give Siesta Village more of a resort appeal to visitors, as leaders of the barrier island have noted.
Further, the value of the property in the City of Sarasota’s Newtown Redevelopment Area (CRA) rose slightly — about 1% — from $357,409,120 in 2025 to $361,190,432 this year. The 2025 figure marked a hike of nearly 15%, compared to the preliminary value in 2024, the News Leader reported at the time.
Additionally in the city, the value of the property that makes up the Downtown Improvement District — which is overseen by a board whose members are appointed by the City Commission — rose to $533,959,738 this year, an increase of close to 4.5%, compared to the 2025 total of $511,091,350.
