Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/344348
members this week suggested the 7.5 percent level was a good start and that future com- missions could reassess the situation. Commissioner Joe Barbetta had been most vocal in supporting the maximum proposed transfer of funds. "Roughly $1 million bonds out to about $11 million on a 15-year amor- tization and about $17.5 million on a 30-year [amortization]," he asked Doreen Buonpastore of the Office of Financial Management. "Exactly," she replied. "The real value is the bonding capability of [the redirected revenue]," he noted. "We need to have other assets," Barbetta con- tinued. "We rely on our beaches, obviously. We rely on our arts and culture [to draw vis- itors]. … A hurricane or a red tide can shut down those beaches relatively quickly, so we need those other assets." Regarding one example of a potential new draw, he said the county cannot accommodate more than about 800 people in one place for a meeting. If the community had a conference A chart shows the amount of money expected to go into a capital investment fund for new tourist attractions, based on the July 9 County Commission vote. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader July 11, 2014 Page 39