Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/185868
Sarasota News Leader October 4, 2013 Page 45 downtown Sarasota, but also in North Port, Venice and Nokomis. Every CRA represents a subtraction from the county's property tax revenue. The County Commission fears a proliferation of CRAs would become a huge drain on county revenues. That is why Merrill took heat from commissioners and resigned. The question he raised remains valid and explosive. If the CRA was good for Sarasota, why should it not be good for Venice and North Port and Nokomis and other areas? With that question, Merrill set a political ambush. And as they say with raffles, you need not be present to win. PLAYING IT OUT Merrill's departure does not put the pin back in the grenade he has thrown. The committee is about halfway through its deliberations. Its report and recommendations are due in January. By consensus, the members have already agreed to recommend perpetuation of downtown Sarasota's CRA for some undefined term. The committee's deliberations have been ignored by the other cities in the county. Only Sarasota city commissioners have shown up at meetings to observe and occasionally testify during the "open to the public" slots on the agendas. But the cities all are watching, and weighing their chances. Complicating the resolution of the CRA issue is the imposition of term limits. County Commissioners Nora Patterson and Barbetta are banned from running again next year. Two new people with presumably new ideas will take their places. So if the current commission County Commissioner Joe Barbetta awaits the start of a recent county meeting. Photo by Norman Schimmel wants to resolve the CRA issue, it has to take action in 2014. With Patterson and Barbetta — both city residents — as lame ducks in their final year of service, they can act without political repercussion. However, somebody will have to pick up the very expensive pieces. The committee's report in January will be of an advisory nature only. Both the Sarasota City and County commissions can embrace the recommendations or utterly ignore them. The stakes are at the multi-million-dollar level. If the Sarasota CRA continues for another 30 years — assuming a 3 percent annual growth rate in the tax base downtown — that is a total of $160 million from the county flowing into downtown.