Sarasota firefighters pension board adopts FY2027 administrative budget with modest increases

The Firefighters Pension Plan Board of Trustees on March 26 approved the proposed administrative budget for fiscal year 2027, adopting staff’s recommendation by roll-call vote.

Staff presented the proposal as an administrative expense budget with an overall increase of about 2.8%. Deb, who presented the packet, said personnel services are projected to rise roughly 3% and operating expenditures roughly 2.5% and cautioned the board that ADA accessibility work could require future adjustments: “we may have to ask for some budget adjustments as time moves forward so that we can have everything compliant so we comply with the law,” she told trustees.

Chair Hartley called for a motion to adopt the budget as proposed; a trustee moved and another seconded. The chair then took a roll-call vote. The motion carried unanimously as recorded by roll call.

Trustees asked staff for the usual line-item clarifications but did not request amendments to the staff proposal; the board recorded that spending to date remains within adopted limits for the current fiscal year. Deb also noted the city will begin running vendor and consultant materials through an Adobe accessibility checker; documents that fail that check will be returned to the sender for revision, a process that may increase reliance on verbal reporting in the near term.

The board’s approval authorizes staff to implement the administrative budget for the coming fiscal year; staff will return future adjustments to the board for approval if ADA-related or other compliance costs require changes.