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($50,000 with no benefits), an assistant man- ager ($25,000 with no benefits) and other overhead, including $15,000 for advertising. Combining the hardware and administrative costs produces a $198,837 annual operating expense. Add the one-time capital costs for chargers, security and those T-shirts, and Moran estimates the downtown shuttle could be operational for roughly $220,000. Moran proposed an unusual business model for the service. Drivers could rent their vehi- cles for $250 per month, and the drivers would depend on tips. He said representatives of the Largo company knew of operations using retirees who paid $500 per month, and they had been in business for years. Using Moran's estimates of eight vehicles at $250 per month, the raw income would be $24,000, or about 12 percent of the annual operating costs. "At some point you can decide how serious you want to be and how much you might want to contribute," he told the DID board. Moran suggested the operator would be a not- for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation not directly tied to the DID but receiving "facilitation" from the city. That might include a secure space in the Palm Avenue parking structure for overnight recharging. City of Sarasota Parking Director Mark Lyons has been help- ing Moran with the calculations. THE NEED At least four, and perhaps as many as six, new hotels are planned for downtown to join the three already in operation. "The [Ritz-Carlton] has expressed support," said Moran. "And we're getting interest from the east end [of Main Street]. I think economic development could occur if there is a connection between the east and west ends." For now, it is a pie-in-the-sky matter for the DID. After bonding out and then completing a major downtown sidewalk and landscape rehabilitation last year, it has far less operat- ing capital. Its annual income after reserves is expected to be less than $70,000, which will have to cover everything it does. Later this year, the organization will explore the idea of expanding its boundaries. The group levies a property tax on downtown landowners, and it has independent bonding authority. % Sarasota News Leader March 7, 2014 Page 68