Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/100825
Sarasota News Leader December 28, 2012 Page 41 JULY 3 JULY 6 Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson tells members of the Siesta Key Village Association she will find out when a recommendation on the new vendor for the Village maintenance contract can be expected to come before the County Commission for approval. The question arose after Mark Smith, chairman of the Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp., provided an update during the monthly SKVA meeting on the search for a new vendor. The bids on the maintenance contract are scheduled to be opened at 2:30 p.m. July 11 in the county���s Procurement Department at the Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd. ���I plan on being there,��� Smith says. When Patterson asks whether he knows when the bid will be awarded, Smith tells her, ���I was going to ask you that.��� City of Sarasota Finance Director Chris Lyons presents the $178 million budget for the next fiscal year. Of that amount, less than onethird lies in the ���general fund,��� with the other two-thirds sequestered away for debt service, utilities and other non-discretionary expenses. Since 2007, the city has cut one-quarter of its employee positions; it has reduced its overall budget by one-third since 2008. Despite the long-awaited stabilization in property values for tax purposes, overall revenue estimates are down again for 2013, led by a nearly $1 million reduction in state funding and grants. Investment earnings in this poor financial climate dropped by one-third. Other revenues, such as gasoline and sales taxes, are off as well, as is the fraction of property tax revenue devoted to the city���s Community Redevelopment Agency; property values for that purpose fell another 1.7 percent. Tom Maroney (left), general manager of business operations in the Sarasota County Public Works Department, and Ryan Montague (third from left), of the county���s Traffic/Mobility Office, meet with representatives of firms interested in bidding on the Siesta Village Maintenance contract. A mandatory pre-bid conference was held June 21. File photo