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compensation. For this year and the next, the city could borrow (from itself) $870,000 each year and pay 3 percent interest. Repaying these two $870,000 loans (the $1.7 million needed) requires a leap of faith. The first floor of the State Street building will sold to a retailer or restaurateur. And the western end of the building will be sold to the same developer or another one for retail, office or residential space. How much is all that worth? Stancel said that space is appraised at $2 mil- lion "conservatively." And in case nobody steps forward to buy the space (which is what happened on Palm Avenue), Stancel says he expects there will be more money in the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) account before the agency officially goes out of business in 2016. How much? He says perhaps $1.5 mil- lion in the two remaining years. He concluded his presentation by saying no conclusion on funding was required that Monday afternoon. That decision will come in April, along with a final design review. And while he said staff will look for cost savings through "value engineering," he did not expect any huge savings to materialize. Vice Mayor Willie Shaw noted the obvious: "We have no room or window for any other choices." Shaw then moved to proceed. Caragiulo said he would not support the motion. "This is a crisis of process," he added. "I don't know how anyone gets past a 60 per- cent overage. I, in good conscience, cannot support this." He was joined by Snyder, who offered no rationale for his vote to stop the project. But they were outvoted 3-2, with Commissioners Suzanne Atwell and Susan Chapman siding with Shaw. THE NEXT DAY The following morning, Stancel was in front of the Downtown Improvement District board members, who have been virtually silent on the State Street project. He filled them in on the funding plan and the timeline. "The garage could be open in February (2015), about one week beyond the Pineapple Square deadline," he said. "Without a doubt, this is an expensive garage. I'm as shocked as everybody else." Stancel mentioned one more possible source to repay the inter-fund loans. "Parking fund revenues, if they are created and approved, could be used to pay back the two-year loans," he said. "You'll probably see some recommen- dation to require payment for the parking garage." The parking fund now runs a $500,000 annual deficit, covered by property tax revenue. That works out to be about $10 per city resident per year to keep parking "free." % The Sarasota News Leader No - Nonsense Reporting Sarasota News Leader February 7, 2014 Page 44