County budget deficits grow higher in outlying fiscal years than figures commissioners saw in early July
In early July, during the Sarasota County Commission’s last set of regular meetings before its summer recess began, Commissioner Tom Knight won his colleagues’ agreement that the board needed another workshop before it holds its two public hearings in September on the county’s 2026 fiscal year budget.
The former three-term sheriff suggested — with his fellow commissioners’ concurrence — that County Administrator Jonathan Lewis communicate with the county’s constitutional officers about their trying to lower their budget requests for FY 2026. Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman; Karen Rushing, clerk of the Circuit Court and county comptroller; and Tax Collector Mike Moran, a former commissioner, are among those constitutional officers.
Knight explained on July 8 that he has growing concerns about the county’s financial situation, given budget models that showed projected gaps as high as $28.7 million for Fiscal Years 2028 through 2030, without steps taken to reduce county spending.
“What is most disturbing to me,” Knight said, “is that we’ll be into our reserves now.”
He expressed worries, as well, about the smaller climb in property tax values this year, in the wake of much higher increases over the past several years, and the fact that the Wall Street Journal had identified Sarasota County as one of the areas in the country where home prices have been falling dramatically.
Since the commissioners began their summer break in early July, Knight penned a guest column, making it clear that he believes the county has to start working to reduce its budgets.
In the aftermath of the board’s July 8 discussion, the master budget workshop document in the Aug. 19 agenda packet does show that county departments have reduced their requests for FY 2026 by $500,000.
Yet, further illustrating the concerns that Knight voiced in July, a chart prepared for the Aug. 19 workshop, showing the variances that the county’s Office of Financial Management is projecting for the 2026 fiscal year, notes a 5.3% drop in state revenue-sharing funds and a 3.4% decrease in revenue from the Communication Services Tax. A couple of years ago, Kim Radtke, director of the Office of Financial Management, explained to the commissioners that the significant reduction in the use of landlines, thanks to the growing popularity of cell phones, was the reason that revenue source was in decline.
On the positive side, the chart does say that county property tax revenue in the General Fund is expected to be up 6.8% in FY 2026, with the Florida Power & Light Co. franchise fee funds climbing 3.8%.
In his column, Knight put most of his emphasis on the need for the constitutional officers to lower their budget requests for FY 2026.
Nonetheless, this week, after county staff posted the materials for the Aug. 19 workshop, The Sarasota News Leader found that only one constitutional officer — Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman — offered to reduce spending. None of the appointed officials whose budgets the County Commission helps fund did so.
Moreover, as it stands, the future year budget gaps have grown from the figures the County Commission saw in early July.
The gap for FY 2028 is up to $31,578,823; for FY 2029, it has been put at $40,806,592; and for FY 2030, it is $39,183,999.
Options, please
On July 9, County Administrator Lewis sent letters to what county staff refers to as the “elected and appointed officials” affected by the commissioners’ July 8 request.
After noting that the commissioners had agreed to conduct another budget workshop, on Aug. 19, Lewis wrote that the board members “are asking that each of you provide options on how we can collectively remain within the projected general fund growth. (The General Fund, which is made up of property tax revenue and other funds, such as the revenue-sharing money from the state and gas tax collections, pays for county departments and those of the elected and appointed officials whose agencies do not generate sufficient operating money of their own. The Sheriff’s Office budget traditionally represents the largest request from the General Fund.)
Lewis added, “Currently, total budget requests exceed projected general fund revenue growth by approximately $23 million. The [commission] would like us to revisit those requests and bring forward ideas or adjustments that will help align proposals with each office’s prorated share of the available growth.”
He also asked the respondents to confirm their availability to attend the Aug. 19 budget workshop, which will begin at 9 a.m. in the Think Tank on the third floor of the County Administration Center in downtown Sarasota.
The agenda packet for the Aug. 19 session shows Lewis received no responses from Supervisor of Elections Ron Turner, Trial Court Administrator Kim Miller, District 12 Medical Examiner Dr. Russell Vega, Public Defender Larry Eger, District 12 State Attorney Ed Brodsky, or Clerk Rushing.
Sheriff Hoffman did let Lewis know that his agency could reduce its proposal by $2,401,797.
The Sheriff’s Office’s preliminary $225.5-million budget for FY 2026 represented close to one-tenth of the county’s total proposed budget of $2,537,447,735. The overall county budget is up 21.4%, compared to the current fiscal year budget of $2,089,303,625, as shown in a chart that is included in the Aug. 19 agenda packet.
Tax Collector Moran responded to Lewis as well, writing first that he would be grateful if Lewis “could please take a moment to remind the Board of … key points related to the Tax Collector’s operations and budget.” Among those is the fact that the Florida Department of Revenue reviews and approves his budget, not the County Commission.
Moran also pointed out, with emphasis, “The Sarasota County Tax Collector’s Office DOES NOT receive a single penny from the net activities of the General Fund. In fact, we return excess funds each year and provide a net benefit to county operations. … We are the only Constitutional Office that gives money back to the Board, rather than receiving funds from it.”
Last year, Moran noted, the Tax Collector’s Office — with decades-long Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates still in charge — returned $20,149,262 to the county. “We are currently budgeting to return $18,673,892 for Fiscal Year 2026,” he added.
Further — as he did during his July 1 budget presentation to the commissioners — Moran reminded Lewis of the need for his office to upgrade its “tax and fees collections software platform.” He pointed out, again with emphasis, “Reminder: Sarasota County is the ONLY Tax Collector in the State of Florida on our current, obsolete software platform.” He had attached a letter from Ford-Coates — whom he defeated in the 2024 General Election — “acknowledging the need for this exact change over 15 YEARS AGO. For whatever reason, it has not been done.”
Moran also stressed, “I have deep worry related to security issues on this matter and others. I am doing everything in my power to close these gaps quickly. I have brought in several third-parties to assist with oversight of these operational and security concerns.”
Moreover, Moran wrote — once more, with emphasis — that he has begun “receiving legal guidance on the potential elimination (or severe reduction) of collecting excess Tax Collector commissions that are being refunded to the taxing authorities instead of the taxpayers. Should this change take effect, Sarasota County taxpayers would receive an immediate tax relief of approximately $15-20 million annually (unless the Board and the rest of the taxing authorities decide to maintain the taxes at the same levels within their own collections instead of doing it through Tax Collector excess).
“In any event,” Moran continued, “I would strongly recommend the Board begin planning for this anticipated reduction in future revenue from excess Tax Collector commissions. It is my sincere hope that the Board of County Commissioners will work with me to support legislative changes from Tallahassee to bring greater transparency and fairness to this process.”
Finally, Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst responded to Lewis, pointing out, “[M]y team … has done everything to do our part to keep costs down, and it’s unfair not to recognize that fact. I am very proud that the 2026 fiscal year budget for the Property Appraiser’s office is up only 2.5%, an increase not only less than inflation, but less than half of The Board of County Commissioners increase.”
Furst added, “I care deeply about this community and agree that some belt-tightening is most definitely in order to protect and preserve our collective fiscal health. But the Property Appraiser’s office — operating out of a building that is a century old and with a lean, thoughtful, stable budget — is proud of its record of providing excellent service to Sarasota County residents while being fiscally efficient at every turn.”
What control does the commission have over the constitutionals’ budgets?
In response to a News Leader inquiry about the authority the County Commission has over the constitutional officers’ budgets, the county Public Records staff provided the News Leader a copy of a memo that the Office of Financial Management distributed to the board members on March 27.
It reflects research into that issue, primarily through a review of Florida Statutes. However, the memo notes that staff also consulted “an Attorney General opinion or Florida Bar paper with some supporting information” in a couple of cases.
As it turns out, the commissioners have final say over the budgets of the Sheriff’s Office, the Supervisor of Elections Office and the Guardian ad Litem program for the 12th Judicial Circuit.
Further, the Office of Financial Management learned, a state statute calls for the chief judge of the 12th Judicial Circuit to submit to the commissioners “a tentative budget [by June 1 of each year] which must certify a listing of all local requirements and the salaries and expenses of each local requirement.” The same statute says that the commissioners “may decide the level of funding for these costs,” the Office of Financial Management wrote.
Another section of state law calls for counties to “pay for the building and maintenance of court facilities and the salaries of support staff for the county courts.”
The Florida Department of Revenue approves the budgets of the Property Appraiser’s Office and the Tax Collector’s Office. For the Clerk of Court’s Office, the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation handles the final approval.