- May 18, 2025
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Of course it’s good news — and frankly, of little surprise — that the results of the town of Longboat Key’s annual citizens survey were decisively positive.
You hear it often — Longboat residents commenting how Longboat Key is their paradise.
Yes, there is much to love and like — number one: the people; the physical appearance, Gulf of America/Mexico, Sarasota Bay, public and private amenities, worship institutions, Publix, restaurants, town services (especially public safety).
You cannot beat the overall quality of life. And Longboat residents who responded to the survey made that point — 97% of the survey respondents ranked Longboat’s quality of life as good to excellent.
Much of that quality of life rating, to be sure, hinges on the residents’ themselves — how well they maintain their properties; the pride they have in the island; how the ethos of “Keep Longboat Longboat” is a real thing; and the expectations residents have of their government — those who are elected and hired to oversee the physical maintenance and safety of the town.
Longboaters have always had high expectations of their town government, and as such, residents have been willing to pay for those expectations. The two highest expense categories in the town’s budget are the fire/EMS and police departments. Those two departments account for $13.4 million, or 54.4%, of the town’s $24.6 million annual operating budget.
Compared to the city of Sarasota, Longboat Key taxpayers apparently are comfortable paying $1,782 a year per capita on public safety, almost twice as much as the city of Sarasota ($920 per capita).
Or are they?
To be sure, every Longboater knows it’s expensive to live on this sliver of sand. And clearly, they are willing to accept that; otherwise, they would be heading elsewhere.
But don’t kid yourself. Longboaters also are concerned about cost — especially in light of the exorbitant increases in property insurance in recent years.
We also saw that when, this past month, we reported in this space that the amount of property tax dollars Longboaters send to Manatee and Sarasota counties and to the respective public school districts topped $100 million in 2024 for the first time.
We heard from several residents who were shocked.
Money matters.
And yet, in the town’s annual survey, there isn’t a word that asks residents their opinions on the town’s budget, expenses, taxes or whether they think the Town Commission and town administration are doing a good job managing residents’ taxes.
One might assume Longboaters are satisfied. There are no protests at Town Hall. Rarely does anyone show up at Town Commission budget meetings to complain about millage rates. Nor do we see streams of moving vans packing Longboaters’ belongings for somewhere else.
Nonetheless, there is the adage: Never assume.
In next year’s town survey, perhaps there should be a few questions that take the temperature of taxpayers on what they’re paying in taxes and whether they are satisfied with the way the Town Commission and administration is handling finances efficiently.
Likewise, at this point, we are compelled to bring up another sensitive omission in the survey: There was no mention of the proposed $11 million Sarasota County public library branch; of the proposed $3.5 million, privately financed community center portion of the project; or of a community center in the Manatee County half of the Key.
Question 26 on the survey was: How important is it for the town of Longboat Key to address each of the following issues in the coming years?
The issues included:
What about: “How important is it to develop an $11 million public library branch and $3.5 million adjoining community center on the Town Center Green?
Asked why town finances and the library were omitted from the survey, Susan Phillips, assistant to the town manager, said:
“The library project was already fully budgeted with the county. It’s ready to be built. It’s not a question whether it’s being built …
“(The survey) is more of giving commissioners tools to plan forward in their strategic planning.”
Likewise, there is always a debate on how many questions to include.
Even so, such a survey can be marketed as residents’ one time each year to let town officials know how they feel.
Don’t overlook any subject. It would be worthwhile to know how residents feel about the town’s two main recreational facilities — the public tennis center and the pickleball courts; on the condition of the Gulf of Mexico Drive sidewalks; and whether Longboaters think it worthwhile to spend nearly $40 million of federal, state and local tax dollars on a complete renovation of Gulf of Mexico Drive.
We’ll stop here at the risk of urging the creation of a survey no one will complete.
From the town survey results: “Participation in community events at Town Center appeared to increase in 2025, with 58.7% of respondents attending seasonal markets, making it the most attended event. Attendance at other events varied, with 42.7% of residents attending the annual Community Open House, 22.5% attending concerts, and 14% attending the Fine Arts Show. These findings suggest strong community engagement in town-sponsored events, particularly those with recurring seasonal offerings.”
It is no surprise that at the Longboat Key Town Commission’s recent strategy-planning retreat the subject of “resiliency” topped the priority list.
That is as it should, considering last year’s three hurricanes.
So the agenda is clear: Rebuild the town’s emergency reserve fund; decide how much to spend to renourish Longboat’s beach ($16 million to $38 million); and continue efforts to ameliorate the flooding that typically occurs in the Sleepy Lagoon and Buttonwood areas.
Also on the commission’s discussion agenda was the town’s facility needs. The library project still needs about $700,000 in private contributions, and similarly, the idea of a community center on the north end is unsettled. And then there is the forever deteriorating Bayfront Recreation Center. Town Manager Howard Tipton says it will need to be replaced in five to 10 years.
That’s what all of his predecessors have been saying for two decades.
Of all the future projects, resiliency and other issues that surfaced, this next one might make you cough: Tipton says there is a critical need for more town government offices and training space.
Critical?
Longboat Key’s population hasn’t changed in 25 years (roughly 7,500). But in the past 10 years, the town’s full-time employee count has grown from 109 to 124.
If anything is “critical,” perhaps first should be a critical evaluation of why the staff count has expanded.
But bet on this: Before you know it, we’ll see new town office and meeting space on the site of the Longboat Key Library after the new county library branch is developed.
Florida is No. 1!
No, not just in NCAA basketball. But in the annual “Rich States, Poor States”/ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index rankings published by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
In this year’s rankings, Florida tops the 50 states in economic performance, which is a backward-looking measurement of the state’s performance in three key categories over the past decade:
Along with that stellar ranking, however, the Laffer index (as in economist Arthur Laffer) ranks Florida 15th in economic outlook — a forward-looking forecast based on the state’s standing in 15 policy variables.
Florida ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in 2021, but has since fallen every year.
The state ranks highest in the nation in the outlook categories of having no personal income tax and no inheritance tax and for being a right-to-work state. It ranks No. 3 for the number of public employees per 10,000 population.
Florida ranks in the bottom tier of states in economic outlook for its tort system costs (49th); sales tax burden (38th), recently tax changes (33rd); minimum wage (32nd); and remaining tax burden (31st).
For the 18 years Laffer and policy expert Stephen Moore have produced the rankings, the index consistently has shown states that spend less — especially on income transfer programs — and states that tax less — particularly on productive activities — experience higher growth rates than states that tax and spend more.
(Full report: ALEC.org)
