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$179,737,494. But after appeals, the overall number was down to $177,693,164 by the end of the tax year. While the difference is only about $2 million, it makes for a big jump in the DID's overall increase when one is com- paring this year's July 1 tax roll to the end of last year's adjusted roll — to 1.78 percent from 0.62 percent. The smaller figure (0.62 percent) comes from measuring the "apples-to-apples" tax roll cer- tifications of July 1 in 2013 and 2014. Because the State of Florida requires local governments to calibrate their "full market value" property tax assessments, create bud- gets and establish tax rates, budget "reality" runs at least a year behind market reality. For another example, the July 1 tax roll reflects the reality of a Jan. 1 real estate market. The new budgets go into effect on Oct. 1, but taxes generally will not be paid until November. And then the cycle will start all over again. Both the City and County of Sarasota held their millage rates steady during the economic downturn, providing six years of straight tax reductions for property owners. Both govern- ments have nearly exhausted their "rainy day," or economic uncertainty, reserves to maintain services in the face of plunging property val- ues (and hence plunging tax revenue). This has political consequences because, on average, property in Sarasota County changes hands about once every six years. Thus, there is a new generation of owners who have never experienced anything but reductions in their property taxes. % THE SARASOTA News Leader Old school journalism. 21st century delivery. The award-winning Sarasota News Leader Sarasota County's #1 digital news weekly! Read it online today at SarasotaNewsLeader.com/current The most comprehensive, unbiased coverage of local news and government in the Sarasota County area. Read it on your iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Nook, Android, Laptop, Computer or other Smartphones Available for FREE every Friday Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2014 Page 51