Sarasota panel finalizes list for surtax projects

City plans on receiving about $191 million over 15 years if fourth iteration of countywide 1% tax passes.

By Eric Garwood
| 10:40 a.m. February 2, 2022

The five-citizen Surtax IV Ad Hoc Committee recommended $10 million to extend Legacy Trail beyond downtown to University Parkway.

Sarasota
News

The city’s advisors on how to spend about $191 million over the next 15 years have wrapped up nine months of work with a final list of 23 projects they recommend should receive at least some funding from a voter-approved sales tax.

Since May 2021, the five-citizen Surtax IV Ad Hoc Committee has been at work, first gathering input from city staff and the public, then prioritizing dozens of ideas, sometimes combining their components into bigger line items.

What and How Much?

The Surtax IV Ad Hoc Committee breaks down the expenditure of about $191 million in expected revenue this way between 2024-2039:

Road resurfacing/rehabilitation: $19 million
Parks and recreation amenities: $36 million
Sidewalk expansion/replacement: $4.75 million
North Legacy Trail: $10 million
Expanded multi-modal trail network: $6.7 million
Seawall replacement/upgrades: $4.4 million
Green canopy/streetscapes/urban forestry: $4.1 million
Street light upgrades/replacement: $4.75 million
Flood resiliency: $2 million
Dredge/shore up Hudson Bayou: $1.3 million
Traffic calming infrastructure: $2.475 millon
Bobby Jones Nature Park: $5 million
Streetscapes: $40 million
Affordable/workforce housing: $5.4 million
The Bay: $10 million
Bridge replacement/rehab: $5.25 million
12th Street North Complex revitalization: $14.5 million
Public restrooms: $900,000
Underground utilities: $4.35 million
Smart City initiative: $5 million
Police vehicle replacement: $4 million
Traffic signal upgrades: $1 million
ADA barrier removal: $1 million

Total: $191 million

The past few weeks, the panel has been assigning dollar values to those projects in preparation for a Feb. 14 meeting with City Commissioners, who will have the final say on how the city’s share of the 1% countywide sales tax revenue should be spent.

Once the City Commission has its final list together, it will be forwarded to County Commissioners, who have the responsibility of considering the tax issue for the November ballot.

If approved by voters, the sales tax will be renewed for its fourth run through 2039. Tourists and non-residents typically pay about a fifth of the sales tax total in Sarasota County, the county said.

“Since 1989, there have been significant improvements made to all of our community, increasing the quality of life," said Doug Jeffcoat, the city’s public works director and the city’s liaison with the commissioner-appointed advisory panel. “If this goes away, it’s definitely going to be a burden on communities to maintain that quality of life and to enhance that quality of life."

The 1% surtax is charged in addition to the normal 6% sales tax on the first $5,000 of a purchase. A quarter of the countywide revenue total is sent directly to Sarasota County Schools. The remaining three quarters is divided among the county and its municipalities, based on population.

The city’s expected share is $191 million, which served as the funding goal for the committee. In the surtax’s last round, which elapses in 2024, the city has spent about $112 million, with roads, sidewalks and community projects taking up about $70 million.

Projects passing the committee’s muster range from things as large as improvements to city park amenities ($36 million) and road resurfacing and repair ($19 million) to money for Americans with Disabilities Act infrastructure changes and the construction of public bathrooms ($900,000).

Among the suggestions that didn’t make the cut: money for fountain restoration; investment of surtax dollars in a new bayfront performing arts center and money for a Historical Society Resource building.

A pair of Legacy Trail-connected projects attracted a share of the money.

Committee members recommended $10 million for the trail’s eventual build out north from Fruitville Road to University Parkway. The segment of the trail leading into downtown is expected to open officially in March.

Money to expand the city’s multi-modal trail network ($6.7 million) includes a notion to link the Legacy Trail to a new park at Bobby Jones Golf Club via a new spur through north Sarasota neighborhoods and across several major roadways.

Jeffcoat said the way forward on the northern Legacy Trail extension will depend largely on the ability to negotiate the purchase of the rail route that runs parallel to U.S. 301, a block or so do the east. Surtax money can not be used to lease land, only for capital projects and purchases.

“This would fund the capital improvements to be able to create the trail, but understand, I just want to give you a heads up, this one will have a lot of conversation I’m sure at the Commission table whether to fund this at what level," Jeffcoat said.

In total, 54 projects were recommended either by citizens or the city staff. Of that total, about 20 were supported by both the advisory panel and city staff. Of the remainder, 11 were agreed on by both staff and the panel not to advance and about five were promoted by the panel without the support of city staff. Some ideas were also combined.

While Jeffcoat will present the staff recommendations to the City Commission on Feb. 14, panel chair Carl Shoffstall said he will appear, too.

"My personal opinion is I would like to see all of us down there," he said of his committee. "Even though it's going to be directed through you, through me. But if there is a question I can say to anyone 'would you care to speak about that, ' I can bring that up."