- October 25, 2024
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Read more: Sarasota, Manatee county general election results 2022
As they have every 15 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sarasota County voters again supported an additional penny of sales tax for each dollar spent, locking into place a revenue source for the county, cities, towns and public schools for another run, beginning in 2025.
By a 78% to 22% margin in balloting that concluded Tuesday, voters approved the 1% infrastructure sales tax that was originally passed in 1989 and renewed in 1997 and 2007. Surtax IV, as it has become referred to, is estimated to deliver about $900 million between its launch in 2025 and its conclusion in 2039.
“A community is made up of its people, and as a community we have certain needs, such as roads, water quality, parks, and public safety,'' County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said in a prepared statement. "Given the overwhelmingly affirmative vote on surtax, the voters in Sarasota County have agreed on how critical these things are to investing in our community.”
Three-quarters of the revenue collected is shared by governments within Sarasota County, based on population. The school district is entitled to the other 25%.
Last spring, municipal and county officials pared down lists of potential uses for the revenue for eventual approval by the County Commission. Though those specific projects are not set in stone, though changes to the agreed-upon list must be done publicly, through hearings and votes of elected officials.
Among the projects countywide authorized for use of the money over the course of the tax’s 15 year run:
