From a budget standpoint, Sarasota County and its non-board-controlled constitutional offices — the supervisor of elections, tax collector, property appraiser, sheriff’s office, public defender, state attorney and clerk’s office — have been living quite well for the past several years.
Their budgets have been super-fueled by a combination of rising property values, unprecedented population growth and federal government bailouts in response to the pandemic and two seasons of hurricanes.
Because there was so much taxpayer money available, they forgot about the value of small government and got used to niceties like fancy parks and recreational facilities, shiny new public buildings, helicopters, cars, software, additional staff, and more. That type of spending is certainly partially responsible for an increase of more than 56% in the county’s budget from 2021-2025…