Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/143399
Sarasota News Leader July 12, 2013 There are two ways to establish a self-taxing improvement district. The St. Armands Business Improvement District was created by petition and referendum. The downtown Sarasota DID was created by the Sarasota City Commission through an ordinance. Moran had pulled together some information to help Katzman, including the property tax values of the area under consideration. He said the tax assessor appraised the property at $57 million, so an improvement district would raise about $114,000 annually. Dr. Mark Kaufman, a DID board member, suggested a Burns Court organization might prefer to remain independent. "I'd think they'd want their own autonomy," he said. "They would want to spend that $114,000 in their area, not downtown." Burns Court is a com- Page 10 mercial and business district about two blocks south and east of Main Street along Pineapple Avenue. THE RETURN OF PARKING METERS? Parking was a hot topic this week. At their Monday, July 8, budget workshop, the city commissioners were informed the Parking Department would need a "subsidy" of half a million dollars next year to stay afloat. And this year, the department is using nearly as much to plug a funding hole. Since the city commissioners reversed themselves a couple of years ago and ordered parking meters removed from downtown Sarasota, there has been precious little revenue from tickets to pay for salaries, signs, vehicles and parking garage maintenance — all part of the Parking Department budget. Louies Modern opened in the ground floor of the Palm Avenue parking garage in April. Photo by Norman Schimmel