Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/121369
Sarasota News Leader April 12, 2013 Page 40 THE FIGURES According to a chart provided by staff, the total cost of beach maintenance budgeted for As Buonpastore showed the commissioners the 2012 fiscal year was $2,456,315, a 13 perthe figures for beach maintenance over the cent increase over the previous fiscal year. past several fiscal years, Patterson pointed to how much the numbers had grown. "Is that The increase from the 2010 fiscal year to the because of the year we just went through, 2011 fiscal year was 4 percent, Buonpastore noted. with red tide and everything?" she asked. Buonpastore replied by indicating how the maintenance funds had been apportioned, including about $1,638,000 going to the Operations & Maintenance Department this year. The total allocated to Parks and Recreation staff for the 2013 fiscal year is $1,087,000. Exner explained that prior to the 2009 fiscal year, Parks and Recreation shouldered all the beach maintenance costs. When Patterson asked whether he meant the classifications for some of the expenses had changed, he told her, "Yes, ma'am." "It seems like it's grown about a million dol- "Labor and overhead jumped considerlars in the last four or five years," Patterson ably from 2010 to 2012," Commissioner Joe pointed out. Barbetta said. Additional beach maintenance funds over the past couple of years have helped pay for more staff time to keep the beaches clean. Photo by Rachel Hackney