Village taxes get public hearing

The Sarasota County Commission last night met for the first of two public hearings before adopting the 2013 fiscal year budget, and the rate Village merchants will be charged for maintenance of the district did not receive any input from the public.

The rates County Commissioners considered during the South Sarasota County hearing last night are based on about $210,000 budgeted for the district’s coffer, fund 118, which is more than double the cost in the annual contract of the new firm undertaking Village maintenance, according to the preliminary budget.

Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp. Director Mark Smith during a Feb. 21 County Commission meeting contested the amount Sarasota County Public Works estimated for the district’s budget in the 2012 fiscal year.

According to a recent email exchange between County Commissioner Nora Patterson and County Budget Director Steve Botelho, the county spent about $60,000 in the Siesta Key Public Improvement District in the 2012 fiscal year, above another contract. If that amount is equal the required revenues for the 2013 fiscal year would be $50,000 under the amount in the proposed budget.

Sarasota County Communications staff member Crystal Pruitt last week estimated it would take up to 8 hours, and about $240, to assemble a line-item list of money spent in the district from the last fiscal year.