Citizens Tax Oversight Committee says $9.27 million in surtax funds moved to hurricane repairs, will seek FEMA reimbursement

Kelly Strickland, Sarasota City’s director of finance, told the Citizens Tax Oversight Committee that the city has moved $9,265,039 from surtax project accounts into hurricane‑repair projects and that the transfer is “cash on hand.”

“Anywhere we can find a grant to fix it, we are. And if we spend this money in this hurricane project, we will when we get the FEMA money back or the grant money back, we'll reimburse it,” Strickland said, explaining the city will seek reimbursement and return funds to their original project accounts when grant money arrives.

A committee member asked whether the $9,265,039 transfer was “over and above any grants we the city may have received from FEMA or the state.” Strickland replied that the transfer represents available city funds and that FEMA claims were outstanding; she emphasized the transfers facilitate straightforward accounting and reimbursement by grouping hurricane expenses under dedicated project codes.

Committee members discussed cumulative transfers. One member estimated a prior $10 million move plus the $9.2 million transfer amounts to roughly $19–20 million moved into hurricane work. Strickland confirmed bookkeeping and project‑coding choices were made to make invoicing and FEMA reimbursement easier.

Strickland reviewed historical surtax accounting with the committee. She said the original projection for the 15‑year penny (penny 3) was about $144 million; after project changes the final penny‑3 project list totaled $132,700,000, a reduction of roughly $12.2 million. She said penny 4 began on 01/01/2025 and that staff have not yet altered the penny 4 project list.

Nick Patel, the city’s public works director, clarified that some elements of projects tied to the John Ringling Boulevard bridge — for example enhanced landscaping — would be funded through city project lines such as parks and recreation, while the core bridge infrastructure remains the Florida Department of Transportation’s responsibility.

Committee members also raised questions about how listed dollar amounts relate to total project costs. Staff confirmed the workbook shows only the penny‑sales‑tax share; larger projects frequently draw on multiple funding sources (grants, gas tax, utilities) and the surtax portion may represent only part of a project’s total budget. For example, a neighborhood multimodal safety allocation of about $500,000 appears in the budget book but is labeled “undetermined” as to which surtax tranche it will ultimately be charged to.

The committee was told the city’s outside auditors had reviewed the prior year and, at the time of the meeting, no management‑letter comments had been issued regarding procedural compliance. The committee directed staff to prepare the oversight report for presentation to the city commission and to have the elected committee chair sign the required report.

Next steps: staff will maintain hurricane project accounting for reimbursement purposes and prepare the committee’s presentation to the commission; the committee set a follow‑up meeting for Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.