The Sarasota County Commission is working toward a budget topping $2 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.

The spending plan took shape through a series of budget meetings last week outlining a preliminary budget that allows the county administrator to draft a proposal that will go before the commission for final adoption in September. The county preliminary budget is set at $2,093,720,674 among operating costs, transfers and reserves, capital purchases and debt.

The budget will fund countywide projects including an advanced traffic management system, drone-based landfill monitoring, “smart cover” wastewater technology, a business ambassador program and more. County staff also outlined infrastructure improvements such as widening Fruitville and Lorraine roads, the Legacy Trail Pedestrian Extension and the construction of a one-stop shop for development services in its upcoming projects.

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In total, the prospective budget is 3.9% higher than the current year’s. It projects a 5.4% increase among county departments and a 3.1% increase among elected officials in employees.

The increase coincides with anticipated revenues of $782.5 million —  10.8% higher than last year’s, fueled by more taxes from rising property values, utilities, developer impact fees, state revenue sharing and other sources. Rate increases of 2% for water, a 5% for wastewater and 15% for fire assessment would also help fuel this surge.

County staff drafted the preliminary budget under the assumption of a flat, countywide property tax rate and no new revenue sources, as well as a historical trend that the county underspends the budget by 6% and exceeds projected tax collections by 3%.

County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said the budget is a conservative estimate that leaves room for unexpected events.

“Any budget is a plan,” Lewis said. “Things have to be amended from time to time because circumstances change it. Certainly over the past five years we have seen that.”

Much of the budget for each department is pulled from the county’s general fund, a pool of money reserved for departments and officials that work for the county. Though some departments like Solid Waste and Public Utilities are funded 100% by enterprise and special funds, most departments and elected officials use this general fund in combination with special reserves, internal services and enterprise funds to make up their total budget.

Sarasota County commissioners get detailed look at 2025 budget

The budget overview began June 19 with Sarasota County departments and elected officials.

Major departments like Emergency Services, Public Works, Health and Human Services, Solid Waste and Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources presented to the commission Wednesday. Emergency Services, Parks and Recreation and Solid Waste were among those seeing notable budget increases.

The projected Emergency Services budget of $142.9 million represents a 9% increase from this year. The 15% increase in fire assessment rates and a proposed 4.5% increase in EMS property tax rates were proposed to fund the larger projection.

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Emergency Services Director Richard Collins attributed the increase to the addition of new firefighter paramedics, the increased cost of utilities, training programs and other improvements. He also noted the construction of Station 27 — a potential new fire station to service developments like 3H Ranch in eastern Sarasota County — as a major factor.

“We’ve taken a really good look at things that need to be in the bottle,” Collins said. “As you look at everything that’s developing along 3H as well as Skye Ranch, there’s going to be a need for a fire station out there.”

Much of the Parks and Recreation department’s 9.7% projected increase in its budget, totaling $45.5 million, is meant to fund projects for upcoming fiscal years. Department director Nicole Rissler cited the South County Regional Park in Venice, increased boat access in parks across the county and continued improvements to the 17th Street Regional Park Athletic Complex as some of the most significant.

Solid Waste’s 13.1% increase to $80.2 million was attributed to hiring additional employees, upholding franchise agreements with disposal service providers, integrating a drone-based landfill monitoring system and improving the county’s water quality. The department will accomplish the latter by pre-treating lrainwater that seeps through the landfil and removing harmful chemicals before it can reach county wastewater treatment plants.

The commission voted 4-1 to hold a public hearing July 10 to repeal the local business tax, with Commissioner Ron Cutsinger in dissent, and voted 3-2 to authorize the transit department to continue with a proposal to the Florida Department of Transportation to add downtown Sarasota to the Siesta Key trolley service.

Sarasota County courts, law enforcement present 2020 fiscal year budgets

On Thursday, representatives from the 12th Judicial Circuit Court presented their budget goals to the commission. The 12th circuit also covers DeSoto and Manatee Counties. While the court is overseen at the state-level, its funding comes from local governments.

Court administrator Kim Miller said the pretrial services department needs a financial boost to its operating expenses. The department currently works with $18,000 a year, which would be increased to $43,000 under the new request.

Pretrial services is the court’s largest department, an around-the-clock operation with 26 employees. The department handles supervision of people awaiting trial, intake interviews for those who have been arrested, and prepare paperwork for judges.

Miller also requested the county help fund the salary for an additional Pretrial Services Caseworker at a salary of $48,526 plus benefits.

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State Attorney Ed Brodsky asked for an increase of about $290,000 to his office’s budget. As the use of body cameras and dash cameras by law enforcement officers becomes the norm, along with the proliferation of personal recording devices such as home security cameras, Brodsky said the amount of media his office receives requires more money and resources to store and sift through.

Brodsky said the additional funding would go towards the adding two positions to help sort through records, as well as to pay for additional cloud storage.

Public Defender Larry Eger kept his presentation simple.

“I don’t want to go into detail, because basically all of our asks pretty much reflect the State’s Attorney’s Office, because everything that they need we need as well,” Eger said.

Eger’s most significant request was for the county to pay half the cost for a Drug Court Coordinator. Manatee County, which is also under Eger’s jurisdiction, would pay the other half.

On Friday, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman requested a budget just above $201 million, about 80% of which is for personnel costs, he told the commission.

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The request is about a 10% increase from the current budget. The Sheriff’s Office has seen a dramatic budget increase under Hoffman; his 2025 budget request put his spending 67% higher than in 2020, when he was elected.

Hoffman cited the county’s growing population – a 28% increase since 2007 – as the driver for his department’s increased budget. More people in the county leads to more cars on the roads; the department saw a 10% increase in traffic crash responses from 2021 to 2023.

The sheriff also said he wants to hire two additional traffic deputies.

“Every year we look at our traffic stats – I think the last three years, if I’m not mistaken – we’ve added traffic deputies,” Hoffman said.

The total number of major crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and assault have fallen by about 58% since 2009, according to data Hoffman presented to the board. That dip corresponds to, yet outpaces, the total number state-wide, which fell by about 31% from 2009 to 2022, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Will Sarasota County’s property tax rate change in the 2025 fiscal year?

Commissioner Neil Rainford spoke about his desire to lower the county property tax rate to about 3.3 mills – which would be a 37-year low for the county. One mill is $1 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

In a May workshop, the commission requested to see budget scenarios with a reduction of .0355 mills, which staff said would generate $3.4 million less in revenue for the upcoming fiscal year than if it were to remain as is. The reduction would also shrink the county’s Economic Uncertainty Reserve by $20 million by the 2029 fiscal year, per a presentation from the county administrator’s office.

The commission is set to establish a “not to be exceeded” millage rate July 10.

Although the commissioners touted their efforts to lower the property tax rate, the “savings” for most people would be negligible or nonexistent as property values in Sarasota County have skyrocketed in the past few years, resulting in soaring property tax collections.

The taxable value of a property is determined by the county property appraiser. As in recent past years as property values have risen, the County Commission is not considering adopting a rollback rate, which would be a property tax rate low enough to keep property tax collections equal to the current years.

Commissioner Joe Neunder praised the effort to lower the county tax in light of high inflation in recent years, even though that inflation itself would negate savings from a millage decrease. The commissioner said he was fully in support of a 3.3 millage rate, and to direct County Administrator Jonathan Lewis to work with that number to create the 2025 budget.

Christian Casale covers local government for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Contact him at ccasale@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @vanityhack. Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County Commission formulates budget now planned at $2 billion