Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/87353
Sarasota News Leader October 12, 2012 About a month after the county settled that part of the suit by paying him $2,500, Brown received his 2011 tax bill showing parking assessment increases for three of his Siesta Village properties. One increase was almost 1,500% over the 2010 figure. As a result of those assessments, Brown filed his third lawsuit against the county in October 2011, alleging county staff had sin- gled him out for dis- crimination. The law- suit pointed to county records showing the assessments for 74 other Siesta Village properties had gone down in the Parking Public Improvement District while three of his went up. Page 28 struction of a municipal parking lot between Calle Minorga and Avenida de Mayo. The lot was completed in 2000, the memo says, at a cost of $863,714.51. Properties in the district were to be assessed annually to repay the county for its expense, which the county covered out of general fund revenue. Not commenting on any lawsuits, it appears that we have already broken the agreement in the past, and I don't see us finding a way out of doing that again. County Commission Christine Robinson Chairwoman At the end of the 2012 fiscal year — which was Sept. 30 — the amount remaining to be paid was about $344,000, the memo said. Contacted about the On Aug. 21, the County Commission voted 3-2 to reject a $277,219.22 settlement offer Brown had made in the third lawsuit. However, the commissioners voted unani- mously to ask County Attorney Stephen De- Marsh to work with County Administrator Randall Reid on whether the ordinance gov- erning the parking assessments should be re- vised, to prevent future lawsuits. THE HISTORY As a result, the county's chief engineer, James K. Harriott Jr., prepared an Oct. 8 memo to the commission, outlining five options for han- dling the parking district in the future. The memo points out that the County Com- mission adopted an ordinance on April 23, 1996 to establish the district to pay for con- memo on Oct. 9, Brown told the News Lead- er, "To be honest, I would prefer if they would abolish the district completely." The assess- ments, he added, are "obviously too compli- cated for [the staff] to implement." Given his pending lawsuit and the potential for other litigation, Brown said, it made sense for the County Commission to authorize pay- ing the $344,000 out of its general fund. In a separate interview, Mark Smith, chairman of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce, told the News Leader, "My gut feeling is [county staff members] haven't been able to run the district since it started. … I don't think they've done a real good job with the assessment pro- cess." Smith added, "I think the prudent thing to do would be to abolish the district and call it a night."