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Sarasota News Leader April 5, 2013 On March 4, a total of 65 ballots were mailed to the property owners, who had until April 2 to get them back to Sarasota City Hall. Only 34 ballots were returned, and one was disqualified because its signature had not been witnessed. Thus, the turnout was roughly 50 percent. Page 47 favor of continuing the business improvement district. But each of the five voting "No" was in the million-dollar-plus category. Another wrinkle tilted the vote. All ballots not returned — reflecting owners deciding not to have their say — were counted as "No" votes. Since half the ballots were not returned, half However, this election was different. Only of the unweighted votes counted against conproperty owners were entitled to vote, and their votes were based on the assessed value tinuation. of their property. The "vote" of the owner of When all was tallied, 35.29 percent of the a $5 million property was worth 10 times the "property" voted to continue the improve"vote" of the owner of a $500,000 property. ment district. The other 64.71 percent preAs the ballots were opened, a pattern began vailed, thus ending a decade-old experiment to emerge. Of the 33 valid votes, 28 were in of self-taxing for self-improvement. City Auditor and Clerk Pam Nadalini slits open an absentee ballot while Lori Rivers prepares to tally the votes as a percentage of assessed value. Photo by Stan Zimmerman