The whole story, one insight at a time. Every figure below comes from the county's own audited financial reports, adopted budgets, and published board minutes — the same locked datasets behind the rest of this site. Scroll it, or present it.
A simple rule for reading any chart here: multiply a per-person figure by four for a family of four.
*FY2026 figures are pro forma — projected from the budget the board itself adopted. The audited FY2026 ACFR (the county's annual audited financial report, due early 2027) supersedes them. Full methodology and downloads
01
The hockey stick: $3,229 to $6,002 per person
County spending plus debt per person was essentially flat for seven years — then bent sharply upward starting FY2023.
02
Both halves grew: spending and debt per person
This is not just borrowing or just spending — both lines rise together after FY2022.
03
A family of four: $12,916 to $24,008 a year
The same trajectory in household terms — the number a family actually carries.
04
The same chart, annotated: whose budgets are these?
Neunder and Smith were elected November 2022. FY2023 was their first full fiscal year — every bar to the right of the line is a budget this board adopted.
Sarasota County government only — spending per person (solid) stacked with debt outstanding per person (faded) = all-in per person. Blue: before Neunder & Smith. Red: their four full years. Hatched: FY2026 pro forma*.
05
Population grew 22% — spending grew 121%
Indexed to FY2016 = 100: population reaches 122 while spending reaches 221. Growth explains only a fraction of the increase.
06
Where the new money went
The eight largest departmental increases from FY2023 actual to FY2026 adopted, ranked in dollars.
07
Debt outstanding: $625.5M to $1.45B
Total county debt outstanding was flat-to-falling before FY2023, then grew sharply.
08
Debt per person: $1,566 to $2,982
Population growth did not dilute the debt — the per-person share rose anyway. (This is debt outstanding per person; annual debt-service payments are not in the locked series.)
09
It gets worse: add the four cities
The county line is only part of the bill. Stack all five local governments and the FY2026 figure rises from $6,002 to $10,420 per person.
10
Wave 1 savings vs. one year of growth
The board-approved budget grew an average of $162.3M a year over the term. Wave 1 of the savings menu — no layoffs, no service cuts — is worth $30.15M to $83.64M a year.
11
The Top 10 Quick Wins, ranked
Earliest wave first, then the largest guaranteed floor. The solid bar is the conservative low estimate; the faded bar is the upper range.
12
$49.85M to $140.5M a year, in six areas
The full savings menu by area. Procurement alone is worth more than the next four areas combined.
13
How the board votes on money
Share of motions passed with zero No votes, by category (motion counts in parentheses). Fiscal items — spending, tax, debt — sail through nearly untouched; what little dissent exists concentrates in land use.
14
The Real Local Burden: County + Four Cities
The county's all-in cost is $24,008 per family of four. Add the four cities — City of Sarasota, North Port, Venice, and Longboat Key — and the true local-government total reaches $41,680. FY2026, spending plus debt.
15
What Wave 1 would do to your bill
If the board adopted just Wave 1, a family of four's FY2026 share would drop by $247 to $686 a year. Illustrative: savings applied directly to the per-family figure.