The unanimous vote comes despite a consultant’s advice that this would be wasteful.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: September 5, 2025
Host: If you’re a homeowner in Sarasota County, here’s another bill that will be rising: the stormwater fee on your annual property tax bill. The county commission met Friday morning to discuss stormwater management, and Ramon Lopez brings you the details.
Ben Quartermaine during the stormwater workshop. Photo: Lopez
Ramon Lopez: For over a year now, there’s been much discussion over what went wrong in this area of Florida during the 2024 triple-hurricane season. The debate has also included what needs to be done to avoid recurrence of the severe flooding encountered in parts of Sarasota County last year.
This morning, Sarasota County commissioners heard from county administration, a stormwater consultant and the public on how best to fund next year’s stormwater work and where the cash should come from.
The matter came up at the county’s fourth stormwater workshop. The county leaders got a first look at Ben Quartermaine, director of the newly formed Sarasota County Stormwater Department.
He presented his plans for stormwater maintenance, including an update on much-awaited Phillipi Creek dredging. Quartermaine also offered the commissioners twin options for a 2026 stormwater rate hike.
Also before the commission was consultant Steve Suau, hired by the county to advise Quartermaine on stormwater matters, including the aforementioned proposed rate hike for county taxpayers.
Maintenance work at Phillippi Creek. Photo courtesy of Sarasota County
The fiscal year 2025 base fee is $45.54. Option A for fiscal year 2026 would increase it by $2.22. The second choice was a $8.12 annual hike. So the average homeowner would pay either $119 or $143 into the stormwater utility next year.
But an audit performed by Suau shows that the county has a glut of stormwater money available. He says throwing more tax dollars at the county’s stormwater problem would be wasteful. Suau said $75 million in stormwater project spending for the next five years could be redirected, freeing up $12 to $14 million annually without raising assessments on residents.
The county commissioners discussed the three options presented to them. They compromised with a unanimous vote for Option B. We hear from Commissioner Ron Cutsinger.
Suau. Photo: Lopez
Ron Cutsinger: I can’t imagine that raising these rates at this moment is the right thing, for me, anyway.
RL: Quartermaine said waterway cleanup efforts are already ongoing county-wide, and hiring of contractors for Phillipi Creek dredging is in the works. It is reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has provided county staff a provisional letter of approval saying the agency is ready to issue a permit for the dredging of the portion of Phillippi Creek from U.S. 41 to Beneva Road.
He said the county-wide maintenance work will continue. A second phase of Phillippi Creek dredging is planned. He will review all current projects and define the intent and benefit of each.
Local community Activist Tom Matrullo liked what he heard at the latest stormwater workshop.
Tom Matrullo
Tom Matrullo: We had no clue how exposed we were, because no one seems to have been minding the store. When Debbie, Helene and Milton came along, we discovered that the taxes we were paying for routine maintenance, inspection and dredging had morphed into a magic story telling us that all would be well. It is past time for us to crawl out of this cocoon of fiction and fantasy, to engage the facts and to make sure we never go back.
RL: Full disclosure: Matrullo is a WSLR board member.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.
