- April 25, 2024
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Longboat Key staff is planning how it intends to use millions of dollars in surtax money collected from retail sales around Sarasota County.
In February, Longboat Key staff is expected to present its recommendations to the Town Commission. The town is due to receive about $15.13 million from the county's 1% sales tax, on top of the standard 6% rate.
Town Manager Tom Harmer said commissioners’ discussion on how to use the money dates back to the Town Commission retreat held on Oct. 18, 2021.
“We talked about the categories and the type of projects that we’ve historically funded and look forward to the next 15 years and how we would look at those projects going forward,” Harmer said.
Here is how the town plans to allocate the funding from fiscal years 2025-2039:
Harmer said the Town Commission is expected to pass a resolution on Feb. 7.
“(It) will formalize the support of the project list going forward, and then that will be provided to Sarasota County,” Harmer said.
If the Sarasota County surtax is approved, the town can use it on the Sarasota County side of Longboat Key, but not the Manatee County side.
“We have more flexibility with vehicles, but less flexibility with facilities,” Harmer said. “Another example would be the results that come out some of our drainage studies, so we could use some of this funding towards say Buttonwood (Harbour), but we wouldn’t be able to use it towards Sleepy Lagoon because that’s in Manatee County.”
Manatee County’s surtax goes from 2017-2032, according to Longboat Key Finance Director Sue Smith.
Harmer called it an “extra step” Longboat Key must take.
“It does complicate it a little bit, but it’s something we’ve been doing,” Harmer said.
On March 29, the Sarasota County Commission is due to discuss each municipality’s proposal. For example, the city of Sarasota is also finalizing its list of projects for the estimated $191 million the tax would bring in the next 15 years. The county uses a population-based formula to determine how to allocate surtax funding.
“That’s after all of the municipalities and school board have submitted their finalized project lists,” said Longboat Key Support Services Director Carolyn Brown. The Sarasota County School District automatically gets 25% of the total, with the county and municipalities splitting the remainder.
It’s the County Commission’s responsibility to decide to put the measure, estimated in value at $2 billion between 2024 and 2039, on the ballot for November’s general election.
Sarasota County voters participating in the Nov. 8 general election will decide whether to approve the surtax for the fourth time.
“This is, historically, a very important part of our budget process and funding capital priorities of the town, and so it’s an important program that we’ve been part of for a long time now,” Harmer said. “And, if we didn’t receive this funding, we’d have to go back and figure out other ways to fund it.”
The deadline to fill out the third annual citizen satisfaction survey is Feb. 12.
Residents need a town-issued letter with a special code to take the online survey. Anyone who didn’t receive the letter should call 941-404-5286.
The survey allows residents to provide the town feedback on specific quality-of-life issues. It also gives residents a chance to share their options on services and priorities.
On Monday, the town posted a “Talk of the Town” YouTube video about the survey.
“It talks about the citizen survey and the reason why it’s so important, and where we are kind of in the scheme of things and what the town gains from the participation in that,” Brown said.
As of Jan. 28, Brown said the town has gotten 1,100 responses to the survey.
The town had 1,524 households respond to last year’s survey after mailing out 8,320 invitations. In 2020, the town had 597 surveys completed after sending out 8,741 invitations.
Longboat Key has again hired the John Scott Dailey Florida Institute of Government at the University of South Florida to conduct the survey.
In April, the Town Commission is expected to hear a final report about the 2022 survey.
