Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/138828
Sarasota News Leader June 21, 2013 Page 18 him after the board had spent some time re- However, Botelho pointed out, the county had viewing them. $34.5 million from reserves allocated for the FY 2012 budget, and it ended up using only "I'm having a hard time with these," Com$9.2 million. He estimated the same figure missioner Christine Robinson added. "We're would be the minimum used again during the already going to use … reserves" to balance the FY 2014 budget, she pointed out, and the current fiscal year. commissioners earlier that day had heard a presentation from Reid about providing a 3 percent merit raise for non-union county employees. "I've got to get the justification for each and every one of these things," Robinson said of the position requests. By June 13, Reid and his staff had talked with the department heads and pulled together a revised list of nine requested positions, which he sent to the commissioners. "It is not our goal to add positions needlessly," he wrote. The total impact on the FY 2014 budget by According to graphs provided by Steve Botel- adding all nine positions would be $645,061, ho, the county's chief financial planning offi- according to a Sarasota News Leader tally. cer, the preliminary FY 2014 budget includes $45.7 million in reserve funds. The FY 2013 The commissioners will meet again on Friday, June 21, to hear budget requests from the budget included $33 million from reserves. A graph compares Sarasota County budgets over the past three fiscal years, with revenue and expense amounts shown as well as the figure for reserves plugged into those budgets. The FY 2014 budget has not been approved yet. Image courtesy Sarasota County