Interim City Manager Bullock brings up issue during Oct. 20 meeting
With questions having arisen last year about whether the Sarasota County Commission will provide financial support for construction of a proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in The Bay Park, interim Sarasota City Manager Dave Bullock won unanimous approval of a related suggestion he made to the City Commission this week.
As the city commissioners were wrapping up their — and staff’s — comments during their regular session on Oct. 20, Bullock proposed that he draft a letter to the county commissioners, which would be sent under Mayor Liz Alpert’s signature. The goal would be to seek clarity on that funding issue.
First, Bullock said, the letter would request that the County Commission allow city staff to make a presentation on the performing arts center. Then, he continued, he would like “an indication of where they are as a commission on future funding.”
Bullock explained, “We’re at a point in our planning where we really need to nail down whether they are in with us all the way, part way, a little bit, or something else.”
Under the terms of a 2022 agreement between the City Commission and what is now called the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation (formerly the Van Wezel Foundation), the city is committed to paying for half of a new performing arts venue. The Foundation would pay the other half out of private contributions that it would raise. The city also would have to provide the infrastructure for the building, including utility lines.
After Bullock made his remarks, Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich asked if he needed a motion or just board consensus.
“It would be best if we had a motion, just to authorize the mayor to send a letter to the County Commission to meet with them and then express our desire to know where they stand on this,” Bullock replied.
“I’ll make that motion,” Ohlrich said.
Vice Mayor Debbie Trice seconded it, and it passed 5-0.
Through an interlocal agreement approved by the City and County commissions seated in November 2020, money produced by a special tax-increment financing district (TIF) in downtown Sarasota is being set aside to pay for improvements within The Bay Park, which is being built on 53 acres of city-owned, bayfront land.
The TIF district includes not just the 53 acres of the park but also surrounding property. The base year for the district was set as 2019. Every year subsequent to that year, if the value of the property in the district rises, then the lower of the city and county millage rates for that year is applied to that value to determine how much revenue will be set aside in the trust fund established for the park.
This week, Deputy County Administrator and Chief Financial Management Officer Steve Botelho told the county commissioners that county staff keeps the TIF proceeds in the county’s General Fund until the commissioners authorize a payment into the TIF trust fund for the park. The General Fund covers all county expenses for departments that generate no revenue of their own. It is the repository for the property tax revenue — and other revenue, such as franchise fees — that the county receives.
County commissioners over recent months have been expressing worry about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal for eliminating property tax payments for Florida residents. Florida Legislature leaders appointed a committee to work on that issue, with an eye toward placing a related referendum on the November 2026 General Election ballot.
Although the term for the TIF district is 30 years, the County Commission included wording in its interlocal agreement with the city the right to terminate the district sooner, if the revenue needed for the park amenities was raised before the end of the term. As Deputy County Administrator Botelho has reported to the County Commission, the revenue thus far has well exceeded county expectations.
Last year, the two Sarasota County commissioners serving on what is called the Bay Park Improvement Board took the position that architectural services for the new city performing arts venue should not be covered by the TIF revenue. Thus, the City Commission ended up covering half that expense — $966,936.95. The Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation (SPAF) paid the rest of the fee for the Phase 1 work on which a team with the Genoa, Italy-based Renzo Piano Building Workshop has been working.
The Bay Park Improvement Board has to approve the funding for any new proposed amenities within The Bay Park. That board comprises two city commissioners, two county commissioners and one member of the public. The current members are Mayor Liz Alpert, Vice Mayor Debbie Trice, County Commissioners Ron Cutsinger and Mark Smith, and Jon Thaxton, director of policy and advocacy for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which is based on Venice.
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, the estimated construction cost of the new complex within The Bay Park was put at $365 million in March. That is in 2024 dollars, as the Foundation group and Jennifer Jorgensen, director of governmental affairs for the city, noted at the time.
During a Feb. 11 workshop, Jorgensen explained that a ”hard cost escalation” of 4% a year through 2028 would add $42 million to the $365 million, resulting in the $407-million figure.
The last time the commissioners talked about the proposed SPAC with representatives of the Foundation and the Renzo Piano team was in the latter part of March.
In response to a News Leader inquiry, Jan Thornburg, general manager of the city’s Communications Department, wrote in an Oct. 21 email, “At this time, there hasn’t been a discussion about placing an item on a City Commission agenda before year-end to discuss the SPAC.”