Sarasota County grants $1 million to Venice beach renourishment project

Sarasota County commissioners voted today to allocate $1 million of Tourist Development Tax funds to help the city of Venice with its beach renourishment project.

Venice requested a sum of $2.2 million from the county after the city of Sarasota received $1 million in December to do an interim renourishment project to hold the Lido shoreline at a safe status until the U.S. Army Corps dredge is completed.

Matt Osterhoudt, the manager of the county’s environmental protection division, explained that the money used for Sarasota’s beach project came out of a specific fund within TDT revenues that is normally reserved for county-owned beaches. Sarasota had received the funds because Lido Beach had exhibited unique and extenuating circumstances—one of the stipulations for allowing the funding to go toward a municipal project—but that Venice’s current project did not exhibit the same circumstances.

“When Sarasota asked for the money, I immediately brought up Venice,” said Commissioner Christine Robinson. “If we’re going to do for one, we need to do for another—we need to be fair.”

Fund 186, the specific TDT fund for beach renourishment projects, has a balance of $16 million. The South Siesta Key renourisment project, which is not ranked high enough on the state project list to receive funding, is also slated to receive money from this coffer. The current projected cost for this project is $21 million, and the county planned for $9 million to come from Fund 186 and a commercial loan from TDT to fund the rest. To pay off the remaining balance, the county will make $1.2 million payments annually for 7 years. 

The combination of funding both the municipal project and South Siesta Key could precariously shortfall Fund 186, especially if the Siesta project does not receive federal funding, the staff memo said. 

Venice began the renourishment project in February and is also anticipating a $1.2 million coming from the State of Florida and $13.9 from federal funding. The funds from Sarasota County would help refill the city's contigency fund, a portion of which was used to cover local costs for the project. Venice's beach renourishment was listed as the state's top priority for 2015.    

Osterhoudt said there was no language in the TDT ordinance for this specific fund that prohibited the county from using it on a municipal project, as long as it was a renourishment project.

All the commissioners agreed the lack of specific language in the ordinance needed to be addressed.

“We need to have a conversation and clearly include the cities in this,” Commissioner Charles Hines said. “The timing is good on this before it gets out of control.”

The board approved a $1 million allocation (the same amount received by the city of Sarasota) from TDT funds to the city of Venice for its renourishment project and directed county administration to create guidelines for the beach renourishment coffer within TDT funds.