My grandfather had an expression that has been passed down through our family - according to Pop, “Everything in moderation.” Yet more and more, particularly here in Sarasota, moderation seems to be escaping us, causing the guiding principle of the Sarasota multi- stakeholder group to fast become a reality:  “People will want to come here until we make it the kind of place they will not want to come to.”  Much press has been given to the loss of the attractiveness of our area due to the recent active hurricane seasons.  Yet hurricanes have been a part of the Florida landscape as much as love bugs, sandspurs, and mosquitoes – all nuisances that have never slowed immigration nor caused shrinkage of our workforce. Now the storm that has caused so many to flee, and so few to take their place, is the perfect economic storm. From this perspective, that storm looks to be fermenting and brewing.  The gale that blew through our community, which escalated the cost of housing to a far greater height than did the increase in wages, caused many to take their housing winnings and move elsewhere.  Over the past five years, local government revenues doubled thanks to the speculative fever of the housing market, supported by new construction, re-sales causing re-valuation due to a loss of homestead exemption, and the annual double-digit increase of valuations on all commercial properties that includes rentals.  During this time no one took the step to roll back the millage.  Those workers leaving the community took their profits from home ownership, packed them in their suitcases, and left jobs paying service economy wages in a housing market now designed for corporate white collar executives.  How do I know all this?  Well as Yogi Berra once said, “We can observe a lot just by watching.”

We have had little control over market forces that caused the change in our lifestyle and our population.  As the economic slowdown continues, hopefully there is something by way of “moderation” that we can do to make the deflation in local real estate prices a moderating economic downturn as opposed to a train wreck.  In order to do this we must convince our elected officials that “excessive” fees and taxation become the fuel of the downhill ride in this market environment.  Not just for the building and development community, but for the entire Sarasota community.

On the agenda of the Sarasota County Commission is consideration to increase impact fees for roads, parks, and libraries.  I completely agree that impact fees are important as part of the County's funding of  its infrastructure funding. The question, however, is how high we can make those fees before they begin to rip at the economic well- being of our community? As proposed by the County's consultant, here are a few of the recommended proposals for just the road portion of the impact fees.  Currently if you construct a medical office building, for every 1,000 square feet you pay $9,756 into the construction fund.  Under the proposed schedule the fee raises to $29,184 for every 1.000 square feet.  In a County with one of the oldest populations in the nation, do you think that new doctors and medical offices might be a desirable addition to support our community lifestyle?

If they can find a place to construct a mobile home, the current road impact fee for the cement pad where the mobile home sits is $943.  In order to make things more affordable the new fee being proposed is $4,207.  The new fee is probably more than the cost of cement and labor to pour the pad.  Just so you have a full idea of the extent to which the consultant has gone in supporting affordability, the total current roads, parks, library fees for mobile homes is $1,415, the proposed new fee is $6,019.  This 325% increase in fees will go a long way to cover the cost of inflation, and assure us that a new mobile home will never again be built in Sarasota.  Similarly the increase in multi-family housing per unit is proposed to go from $2,972 to $7,511, a 152% increase.  Yes we need roads, parks and libraries, but not at the expense of our workforce and retirees on fixed incomes.

The recent escalation in the cost of housing, impact fees, those properties not covered by our  “save our homes” tax limitations, and an inability to increase wages fast enough in order to catch up with the cost of housing, makes the Community Housing Trust – a perpetual partnership in land ownership – the only viable solution for affordable housing. The Florida Real estate market is no longer a “free market.”  It is a “controlled market” though land use, fees, and taxes.  Long-term residents who stay put have become the only winners in this real estate market.  We control the taxes for a few in order to punish the many.  Commercial property owners, renters, non-homesteaded snowbirds, new homeowners, sellers of homesteaded property who choose to stay in Florida, are all losers in a market place that discriminates against the majority.  We have erected a sign that says”Stay Out.”

Our school system has seen a reduction in enrollment, while enjoying higher revenues to support their efforts.  The hospital while able to cover all their indigent care costs will have a surplus of revenues in excess of $30 million dollars this year, and has enough money to build a clinic outside of Sarasota County and a fitness center, thanks in large part to hefty millage increases over the past few years.  Couple all of this with ever rising fees for water, sewer, and electricity, not to mention insurance hikes, and the rubber band of individual budgets gets stretched pretty tight.  We want good services, but there are times in everyone's lifecycle where we have to be cautious in our spending.

To say that our real estate decline does not affect our overall economy is like saying that falling from the top of the Sunshine Skyway won't hurt.

This is a plea to all elected officials who control the exactions being made of local taxpayers, homesteaded or non-homesteaded, apartment owners, office or business owners.  Recognize the compounding effects in raising fees and taxes, and until we collectively get back on our economic feet, roll back millage and fees to operate your agencies on no greater annual increase than the cost of inflation.  If property valuations drop, constrain yourselves from increasing millage and moderate your taxing expectations.  Do not loose your visions for a better community, but moderate your plans on when and how infrastructure should be built.  The citizens of Sarasota County have moderated the pace at which they are living.   It is no less to ask that government do the same.  Finally, work together with state legislatiors to replace our ad valorem system of taxation to put equity and fairness ahead of self- interest.  We are all in this together.   Let us return to a time where we have everyone's best interest at heart in the true sense of community.