Report includes data about library event attendance and work of Contact Center
The total number of Sarasota County permits issued for the first six months of this fiscal year — through March — was lower than the tally for the same period of the 2025 fiscal year, as noted in a recent presentation to the County Commission.
The FY 2026 mid-year figure stood at 20,716, or about 70% of the 29,305 counted for the same period of the 2025 fiscal year. The details were in a slide shown to the County Commission during its May 20 budget workshop.
However, Assistant County Administrator Brad Johnson explained the data thus: “For the most part, in ’25, you’ll note that there’s a spike in almost every graph that’s related to the impacts of the storms from the ’24 [hurricane] season,” with people pulling permits during the recovery process.
The trends over the past five years have been “very consistent,” Johnson added, referencing the next slide in his presentation.
That graph showed the total number of county permits issued in the 2023 fiscal year was 50,282; for FY 2024, it was 48,124. The figure for the 2025 fiscal year climbed to 58,764.
County administrative staff typically provides an update on permitting data, along with other county facts and figures, during a County Commission budget workshop scheduled close to the middle of each fiscal year.
Another slide in the group that Johnson presented on May 20 noted that the total of permits issued for single-family dwellings jumped from 1,609 in the 2023 fiscal year to 2,396 in FY 2024. In the 2025 fiscal year, the total declined to 1,851. Through the first six months of this fiscal year, the figure was 899.
For multi-family units — such as condominiums — the FY 2023 total was 1,400. In the 2024 fiscal year, the figure was less than half that: 630. Then, in FY 2025, the tally rose to 1,136. For the first six months of this fiscal year, the total was 325, slightly more than a third of that ending count for FY 2025.
Bar graphs put the number of single-family permits issued for the first six months of the 2025 fiscal year at 843, compared to the 899 total for the same period of this fiscal year.
The multi-family unit permit tally for the first six months of the 2025 fiscal year was 305, compared to the 325 count for the same period of this fiscal year.
Yet another slide showed that, from the 2006 fiscal year through the 2025 fiscal year, the highest total of single-family dwelling permits issued was in FY 2021: 2,908. The 2022 fiscal year was in second place, with 2,450.
Building inspections track construction activity, Johnson continued during his presentation, showing the board members slides depicting those figures from the 2021 fiscal year through the first half of this fiscal year.
Communications, garbage and transportation
In regard to communications with the public, Johnson pointed out, with more slides, “We did see a spike in ’25 related to the transition [to] automated garbage [collections]. That caused a very large volume [of calls to] 311,” he added, referring to the phone number used to reach the county’s Contact Center.
“That has started to taper off,” he added, “and we’re holding pretty consistent in this fiscal year.”
From October 2024 through March 2025 — the latter being the month that the new garbage collection contracts went into effect — the number of calls was 196,369. For the first six months of this fiscal year, the total was 171,306.
Then Johnson noted the graph with the heading “311 Transfer Rate.”
“Our goal with 311,” he explained, “is ‘first-call resolution …”
When a person calls 311, he said, “Our customer service representatives are looking to resolve that call without having to transfer [the caller] to another department, so the low transfer rate we’re seen [this year] compared to last year is trending in a positive way.”
The transfer rate for the first six months of the 2025 fiscal year was 7.03%; for the first six months of this fiscal year, it was 5.16%.
UF/IFAS, Solid Waste Department and Libraries’ outreach
In regard to other means of county communications with, and outreach to, the public, Johnson noted a slide showing a continuing rise in the number of people who follow Sarasota County Government on Facebook.
“Across all our [social media] platforms,” he added, “we’re seeing continued increases in connections.”
Then Johnson put the figurative spotlight on a slide regarding educational contacts involving the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension program in the county. He told the commissioners, “We’ve actually seen a 50% increase just in the past year.”
He praised the UF/IFAS staff members for their efforts.
As for people who are seeking assistance from the county in general, he continued, staff focuses on what he referred to as “what the hot topics are”; or, in other words, “really looking at what the community needs …”
Turning to data for the Solid Waste Department, Johnson pointed to a slide showing the rise in the amount of materials diverted from the garbage collections to recycling. He attributed that figure to the educational efforts and other types of outreach that Solid Waste Director Brian Usher and his staff have made. They have been “continuing to push the message of what belongs in the garbage can and what belongs in recycling. That’s obviously paying off,” Johnson said.
Another slide illustrated the fact that the public remains supportive of the county’s Breeze Transit OnDemand services, which supplement the public bus routes.
Next, Johnson focused on data regarding the county libraries.
“Again, through outreach, education and the contact with the community, we’re just seeing really great numbers,” he pointed out.
Representatives of the Libraries and Historical Resources Department attend a multitude of community events where they believe they will have the best opportunities to inform the public about the system’s services, he explained. “You’ll see the numbers here reflecting that.”
In regard to attendance of programs conducted in libraries, he pointed out, “Again, staggering numbers.” He pointed to the 70% increase from the first six months of the 2025 fiscal year to the first six months of this fiscal year. “And that is all due to just putting the right things in front of the right people.”
“That says a lot,” Chair Ron Cutsinger pointed out of that data.
For an example, Johnson said that events created in connection with the county’s annual One Book, One Community program will see 500 people show up, with “standing room only” after the seats have been filled.
Finally, he noted that the number of users of the county’s Legacy Trail remains “very consistent,” as well as the “high satisfaction rates” with offerings of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department.