The commissioners vote to instead fund the EDC with money generated from all taxpayers.
By Tyler Oldano
Original Air Date: July 17, 2024
Host: For several months, the Sarasota County Commission has moved to repeal the Sarasota Business tax, and last week, they made it official. The tax used to cost an average of $14 a year for local business owners, and the proceeds went to support the Economic Development Corporation, or EDC. Their mission is to help local businesses in periods of growth and times of turbulence. WSLR News intern Tyler Oldano reports how this recent repeal came about.
Tyler Oldano: For business owner Todd Morton, the EDC was a huge help in keeping his business afloat during the pandemic.
Todd Morton: With these roadblocks to profitability and future development that’ve happened, I along with other business owners, have been grateful to the EDC for being there to support us and others in various ways, including their administration of a loan program, which helped a couple hundred small businesses in our county from struggling to keep their doors open.
TO: And he’s not the only one. During COVID-19 the EDC gave out more than $4 million worth of loans to small businesses. During Hurricane Ian, they helped distribute damage surveys after the storm. All of this was made possible thanks to the EDC’s funding, a portion of which comes from the Sarasota County’s Business Tax. While most people tend to be opposed to paying taxes, many business owners showed their support for the tax at multiple county commission meetings.
TM: As a rule, I’m personally not a fan of any tax, but this local business tax, which funds close to 30% of the EDC budget, is literally a very small price to pay as a business for the greater good.
Business Owner 2: The business community does not like taxes. You’ve heard that said a number of times we voted a tax on ourselves years ago to make sure that we could support an organization that we all knew was really critical and important to drive the business in this county, and that’s what we’re doing.
TO: At the most recent discussion regarding the EDC, Commissioner Joe Neunder, called himself “the social media of Sarasota’s business community”, because he talks to so many other local entrepreneurs. He says he hasn’t heard of anyone familiar with the EDC or in favor of paying extra money.
Joe Neunder: The small business owners that I know are hurting in today’s economy, we’re all tightening our belts, especially those of us with growing families. The cost of groceries, the cost of gas. Every dollar counts.
TO: At a different meeting though, many of the business owners who attended said the cost wasn’t an issue.
Todd Morton: The average tax amount paid for the 2024 tax year is $22.46 per business. The most common amount paid is only $14.43 a year. This is basically a rounding error for most of us, and if abolished, will not allow and move the needle of our profit and loss statements.
TO: Commissioner Rainford, however, says that the public comments are not a good representation of all business owners.
Neil Rainford
Neil Rainford: I’m not sure everyone was represented here when we had a few public comments. But certainly they’re hard at work, trying to run their businesses and every dollar we can put back in their pocket, is important to me.
TO: At a meeting in June, Commissioner Mike Moran cited previous instances of mismanaged funds, and a desire to stop taxing business owners. Commissioner Cutsinger defended the EDC, saying it has a new board of directors, one of those directors being Cutsinger himself. He said at the same meeting that the organization has changed.
Mike Cutsinger: We got a packet of letters from every major business organization in Sarasota County, including Coba, the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, Argus, Gulf Coast Business Exchange, and many others who have said, please don’t take away the local business tax. We want to support the EDC. That wouldn’t have happened a couple of years ago because this is an entirely different organization.
TO: North Port business owner and chair of the Community Economic Advisory Board Sean Buroughs says that the EDC was working well, and didn’t understand the need for the funding change.
Sean Buroughs: They’re good at what they do. They’re extremely good at what they do. Why are we going to cut their funding? It makes zero sense to me.
TO: Despite these comments, the Sarasota County commission moved forward abolishing it. They voted on its repeal last Tuesday with a 3–2 vote, with Ron Cutsinger and Mark Smith against. This doesn’t mean the EDC will be without funding though. At the exact same meeting, last week, a new route of funding was introduced. The county unanimously approved a new funding plan that would match 50 cents for every dollar of private funding the EDC obtains, with a limit of 500,000 dollars. This would all come from the county’s general fund though, the same place that infrastructure like roads, water, and sewer pull from. Shari Thornton, who is running against Neil Rainford for the county commission, objects to that idea.
Shari Thornton: As a taxpayer, knowing that the businesses supported paying this business tax for this service, it doesn’t seem quite right that it comes back to the taxpayers to pick that up.
TO: Commissioner Mark Smith, also didn’t mince words.
Mark Smith: I just think we’ve cut a revenue source at the same time that we’re cutting our millage rate. And I just think it’s not a wise idea, to be honest and polite. so, I can’t support the motion, because I just think it’s, quite frankly, dumb.
TO: With the new funding plan approved, the EDC will now have to pick up more private donations to pick up the slack with the county’s matching program.
Tyler Oldano, WSLR.
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