Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/119978
Sarasota News Leader April 5, 2013 Page 37 Commission is expected to vote its approval Street], and there's the Lido Pavilion. We have over-invested in downtown — to good effect of the group as well. — but it's time to stop because there are so CAN CITY AFFORD IT? many other areas in the city that need attenAt first sight, this seems like a no-brainer. The tion." county forgoes $3.5 million per year in taxes and lets the city determine how best to spend the money. So far the funds have been used to support bond issues for infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, soaring pension and health benefits for city employees and retirees create unsustainable pressures on the budget. The city is looking at a $4.8 million shortfall for the coming fiscal year, and it is planning to cut seven police officer positions and five other employees. But the $4.8 million is a fraction of the $20 million shortfall projected in 2022 as benefit costs swell from $22.7 million today to $41.7 million. However, the county does not pay to operate or maintain those projects. The cleaning, painting, landscaping, staffing and other costs are borne by city taxpayers. A good example is the construction with CRA money of commercial space on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. CAN THE COUNTY AFFORD IT? Way at the Janie Poe complex just west of the Turner offered a solution: "There is a historailroad tracks. ry of the county wanting to partner with the The offices and retail space sit empty, with no cities. There should be a CRA in each of the takers even at $6 per square foot. Meanwhile, cities with county money only, to be spent in the CRA must pay to maintain and secure the any way the county wants," he said. "It's time property. While "new" empty storefronts are for the county to get a new mindset, and that better than "old" empty storefronts, what they is, 'We're going to do good things in the cities share is a dearth of entrepreneurial activity. to help them prosper.'" Turner used an analogy to explain how the CRA funding works: "If I give you $1,000 to spend as you want, you'd like that," he said. "If I give you $1,000 but said you can only spend it on ice cream, it's not quite the same." "There are other problems with restricting your monies," Turner added. "We've started on the North [Tamiami] Trail. St. Armands needs a parking garage. We need some kind of parking facility in Southside Village [aka Hillview Commissioner Shannon Snyder added a warning: "They're either going to help or they're going to inherit us. We're on a short leash here." All of this gets dropped in the lap of the 11 volunteers who will be asked to polish their crystal balls, dust off their calculators and unseal their political tarot cards. Should there be a CRA in the future? How many? What baseline? And the most important question of all is who decides where the money goes? %