Dim, but not dark, is how the 2009-10 Sarasota City budget could be portrayed.
No property tax increases are proposed in the budget from the current year’s city level of 2.7771 mills. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of appraised property, less any exemptions.
However, there are lots of increases in fees proposed, everything from water and sewer charges to hikes in rentals at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
Public access to the budget is available online at www.sarasotagov.com.
The proposed 2009-10 city budget has been put at about $54.6 million, down from the current $58.5 million, a difference of a little more than $3.9 million.
Blame it on the economic downturn, City Manager Robert Bartolotta said.
"Service levels citywide cannot continue to be maintained as they have in the past," he wrote in his summary to the city commission and public.
It’s just not the "goodies" that citizens have come to expect that are being hit, but city hall as well.
"The cuts proposed in this budget along with the cuts in the previous two years now equal 156 positions being eliminated from the city workforce," he wrote. "Simply put, expectations for past service levels need to be lowered."
Then he gets more pointed.
"It is also very important to realize that fiscal year 2010-11 may not be the bounce back year that many anticipate. Our projections continue to show property tax revenue declining," Bartolotta wrote. "Unless the economy starts to improve, which would stimulate the economically sensitive revenues, another shortfall will exist."
SOME NUMBERS
Revenues projected for the 2009-10 budget, to fill the various coffers, are pegged at a total of $54,571,315; they come from a dozen or so different sources. The following are some of the highlights:
• Property taxes for next year amount to an estimated $29 million, down 7 percent from the current budget.
• Intergovernmental revenue projected to come to the city amounts to a little more than $7 million, down 4 percent from this year. The money comes from various state and federal sources: state revenue sharing, mobile home licenses, sales tax, alcohol tax and others.
• Licenses and permits for next year are estimated at $5.8 million, down 3.7 percent from this year. The biggest source of money within this category is the electric franchise fee, at a revenue total of $5.4 million. A huge hit in this category is within the issuing of engineering permits, projected to be almost 41 percent lower in 2009-10 than in the current year, yet another reflection of the lack of a building boom in Sarasota.
• Fines and forfeitures the city receives are estimated at $703,320, up nearly 34 percent next year over fiscal 2008-09. Within this category is the largest hike in revenue within the budget, an estimated 59 percent in court fines next year compared with 2008-09.
On the expenditure side, the police department is the largest spending element, at more than $29.5 million, down almost 7 percent next year as compared to the current spending cycle.
General government expenses – including most of the city hall staff – are projected to be more than $17 million next year, a 1.5-percent reduction from the current year.
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is looking for a $595,000 subsidy next year, almost 16.6 percent less than was needed this year.
Ed Smith Sports Stadium also needs some financial help next year, to the tune of almost $69,000, about 80 percent less than it needed this year.
The city’s municipal auditoriums are operating in the black and are receiving no city funding next fiscal year.
The city commissioners and staff will enter into two marathon budget workshops, scheduled for July 21 and July 22. The sessions will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the commission chambers. No public comment will be accepted.
Final adoption of the budget will take place in September, when public comment will be sought.
The 2009-10 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.