Sarasota News Leader
September 21, 2012
negotiated and agreed upon. It should be respected."
"I hate being Doctor Doom," said City Fi- nance Director Chris Lyons. "We project a $7 million deficit at the end of Fiscal Year 2014. Changes coming from Tallahassee will only make this worse. Where will the revenue come from?"
The Clean Energy Fund by 2022 is project- ed to generate about $1.5 million. "That's almost 10% of the budget deficit [projected for that year]," said Commissioner Terry Turner. "The way we solve this problem
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is with some tax increases, further cuts in pensions and health care benefits, and go after a myriad of small programs and start now. If we wait until 2022, it's not solvable."
Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, who had supported killing the fund in earlier budget deliberations, changed his vote Monday. "If we stop thinking like dinosaurs, perhaps we won't go extinct. I won't support this," he said.
The measure passed 3-2, with Shaw and Caragiulo in the minority.
