Is Sarasota's Commission being coerced into raising rates?
At 9 am this Friday, Sept. 5, the County Commission will hold its fourth Stormwater workshop: Hydrologist Steve Suau's analysis of the department - its operations, future plans and assessments - will be quite interesting. Suau, who created the county's first stormwater department over 25 years ago, has observed we had an increase in our stormwater assessments three years ago - some people's assessments went up over 60%. County administrator Jonathan Lewis says we need another increase -- we clearly do not. Last year, the department "forgot" it had $15 million in another account. We have the money - what we need is to properly prioritize how we use it. Sarasota Stormwater has planned some 40 future projects -- many suggested by consultants who always have "great ideas" that somehow cost great money. Here's one item - hard to tell if it's even an actual project, as it offers no information about what is intended to be done: Suau recommends a rigor...