How much city money does county want: $51,000 or $1 million?

Sarasota County surprised the city of Sarasota last month when it levied emergency-services assessments on 16 city of Sarasota-owned parcels of land. The initial assessments totaled just less than $51,000.

But for the city, the unexpected assessments have the potential to cost the city close to $1 million or more a year.

Which explains why the city has hired an out-of-town law firm and is willing to spend more than $100,000 to fight the county.

Sarasota County’s Emergency Services Department issued the assessments in August. That marked only the second time in decades the county has done so.

But County Emergency Services Director Richard Collins explained the assessments by saying, “Fire assessment is a non-ad valorem assessment. It’s a tangible benefit to property, and there has to be fair apportionment for the services provided.”

While the county has removed two of the 16 parcels from possible taxation, five more parcels also are being considered for removal. They include four vacant residential homes and the former G. WIZ site near the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center.

That leaves nine properties being contested.

From the city’s perspective, if these assessments stand, they could lead to greater costs: the city having to pay property taxes on the 16 parcels in question, said Deputy City Attorney Michael Connolly. The taxable value of nine of the most contested parcels is $53.8 million. At a millage rate of 16.7868, those properties would be assessed for $903,623 — and likely more each year thereafter as their value increases.

Connolly said the properties causing the most disagreement are leased to nonprofit organizations. Mote Marine Laboratory is among them.

“They’re not in business to make money,” Connolly said. “They’re out there working for the community.”

To fight the assessments, the city hired GrayRobinson, an Orlando-based firm that won a similar fight on behalf of Coral Springs. In that instance, Broward County levied assessments on Coral Springs properties.

On Tuesday, county commissioners voted to allow the city a 30-day extension to file a lawsuit and continue discussions with the city. Connolly said his preference would be to settle the dispute out of court.

Said Assistant County Administrator Steve Botelho: “We really need to get to the nuts and bolts at a staff level on each of these, and that’s going to help us clear off the easy ones. And if we’re left with eight or nine or 10, or two, that the attorneys agree to differ on, then we’ll move forward from there.”