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$1,140,305 to make up the difference between projected revenues and expenses for the cur- rent fiscal year. With revenues down, even a 10-percent "crash savings plan" to generate $1.2 million will not be enough to fill the budget hole, so Lege pro- poses using another $1,167,011 of the "budget stabilization" reserves to keep the current year's spending plan balanced. This virtu- ally depletes the "budget stabilization" fund for use in the future. Only $630,184 remains, barely half of what the city has been using for the past several years to balance the budget. A new plan is needed. In other words, as of Oct. 1, the city either will need to develop a balanced budget with revenues equal to expenses or find a new source of money to cover the difference. Right now the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 is $3.6 million in the red. One of the drivers of that deficit is the $500,000 needed by the Parking Department because City Finance Director John Lege provided this comparison of tax rates of equivalent-size cities between 2008 and 2013, with their rates of increase. Sarasota remains near the bottom of all Florida cities. Other communities, such as Fort Myers, raised taxes to compensate for falling property values. Image courtesy City of Sarasota Sarasota News Leader July 18, 2014 Page 36