- November 22, 2024
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With a 14.46% increase of the taxable value of property in Sarasota County, the good news is the county government has more than $30 million in additional ad valorem revenue to work with for next fiscal year, should the millage rate remain unchanged.
On the other side of the budgetary coin, spending requests among constitutional and other county departments were up by 36% when County Administrator Jonathan Lewis presented the preliminary spending plan to county commissioners during their first fiscal year 2024 budget workshop.
For the benefit of the three new commissioners who had yet to experience the county budget process — Mark Smith, Joe Neunder and Neil Rainford — Lewis pointed out that the preliminary budget is just that, and is not a recommended budget. Additionally, it’s based on a preliminary assessment of the total taxable property value in the county.
“This is a preliminary budget,” Lewis said. “My proposed budget to the board doesn't come out until after we receive the final property values from the property appraiser. This is a preliminary budget combining the departments under my responsibility as well as the others that you are responsible for funding. I think it's important to note that much of the actual revenues and expenditures in here are projections, three to 15 months out into the future.
“This is a plan for a budget that's projecting that far out into the future on terms of what our departments are going to have to buy 12 months from now and how does that relate to where we are in the economy. It also tries to anticipate new needs as we go into (fiscal year) 24 that the board has looked at and it always works to balance between revenues and expenditures as we go forward.”
Lewis based the preliminary budget on a projected taxable value of $93.4 billion, a number that was officially certified on June 27 by Bill Furst, the county’s property appraiser, at $94.2 billion.
At $93.4 billion, ad valorem revenue for the next fiscal year was projected in the preliminary budget at $255.7 million, up from $226 million in the current fiscal year. Both of those are based on 95% to budget. Actual revenue collected in fiscal year 2022 was $195.2 million.
Now with the property valuation complete, Lewis and staff will go about the process of finalizing his proposed budget, which is due July 11, when the County Commission is scheduled to set the tentative millage rate for next fiscal year. The board can change that rate as it goes deeper into budget season, but it cannot exceed that tentative rate.
The budget growth coincides with the property value increase, largely affected by the value of new development, which brings population growth. More county citizens mean more county personnel to serve them. The preliminary budget included an increase of 54.42 full-time equivalents across all departments. That keeps pace with the number of FTEs per capita for departments under the county commission’s purview of 5.36 per 1,000, and 3.02 per 1,000 for constitutional officers and other boards and agencies — both ratios the same as the current fiscal year.
Should all additional FTEs be approved, that would bring the county’s total employment to 3,894.
The adopted general fund millage rate for FY 2023 is 2.9251 and total rate for all funds is 3.4463. On average, the county collects approximately 0.89% of a property’s value in taxes. For a property worth $500,000, that amounts to $4,450 per year.
Costliest of the county-funded departments is the Sheriff’s Office, which this year is requesting $181.8 million in spending, up $30.37 million from last year’s $151.44 million for an increase of 20%. The Sheriff’s Office includes operating the Sarasota County Jail.
Lewis, though, is looking to trim the preliminary budget prior to submitting his recommended budget.
“It is my recommendation that we look at doing a reduction at the total general fund budget of $3.3 million,” Lewis said. “The majority of it would fall to me and the sheriff at $1.4 million each. That's not a cut in today's resources. That's a cut in growth going into 2024.”
| Department | FY23 | FY24 | Diff. | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Services | 631.20 | 639.20 | 8.00 | 1.3% |
| Public Utilities | 258.26 | 268.26 | 10.00 | 3.9% |
| Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources | 225.10 | 223.05 | 7.95 | 3.5% |
| Public Works | 201.70 | 220.70 | 19.00 | 9.4% |
| Planning & Development Services | 203.15 | 204.75 | 1.60 | 0.8% |
| Transit | 196.00 | 186.00 | -10.00 | -5.1% |
| Libraries & Historical Resources | 166.50 | 164.50 | -2.00 | -1.2% |
| General Services | 121.75 | 127.78 | 6.03 | 5.0% |
| Enterprise Information Technology | 89.00 | 89.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| Office of Financial Management | 66.00 | 70.00 | 4.00 | 6.1% |
| Capital Projects | 53.00 | 54.00 | 1.00 | 1.9% |
| Human Resources | 56.80 | 47.40 | -9.40 | -16.5% |
| Health & Human Services | 41.00 | 43.00 | 2.00 | 4.9% |
| Solid Waste | 38.27 | 41.27 | 3.00 | 7.8% |
| Communications | 34.40 | 35.40 | 1.00 | 2.9% |
| County Attorney | 24.00 | 26.00 | 2.00 | 8.3% |
| UF/IFAS Extension & Sustainability | 14.00 | 14.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| County Administrator's Office | 12.75 | 13.75 | 1.00 | 7.8% |
| Non-Departmental | 19.87 | 8.84 | -11.03 | -55.5% |
| Government Relations | 3.25 | 3.25 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| Total | 2,456.00 | 2,490.00 | 34.15 | 1.4% |
| Department | FY23 | FY24 | Diff. | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheriff's Office | 1,036.00 | 1,060.00 | 24.00 | 2.3% |
| Tax Collector | 103.00 | 103.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| Clerk of Circuit Court | 78.10 | 77.42 | -0.68 | -0.9% |
| Property Appraiser | 71.00 | 70.00 | -1.00 | -1.4% |
| Court Administration | 53.00 | 48.00 | -5.00 | -9.4% |
| Supervisor of Elections | 32.00 | 34.00 | 2.0 | 6.3% |
| County Commission | 5.00 | 5.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| Guardian Ad Litem | 4.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| Tourist Development | 1.00 | 2.05 | 1.05 | 105.0% |
| Total | 1,383.10 | 1,403.47 | 20.27 | 1.5% |
