Sarasota County · Utilities & the Cost of Basic Service
Water, Electric, Sewer, Garbage: The Monthly Bill Nobody Votes On
A Sarasota household's utility stack now runs roughly $288.17 a month (computed: county water/sewer at 4,000 gallons + FPL's typical 1,000-kWh bill + one-twelfth of the annual garbage assessment).[1][3][4] Each piece has an approved increase already scheduled. This page documents the rates, the quality record behind them, and what county services cost per resident.
I. Water & Sewer
On August 26, 2025, county commissioners approved a 6.4% water and 5% wastewater increase, effective October 1, 2025. The average single-family bill at 4,000 gallons a month rose from $103.62 to $108.97, with the new revenue funding the Peace River surface water treatment expansion.[1] Water alone costs $36.48 at that usage — about 0.91 cents per gallon (computed). Rates are tiered, so heavier use costs more per gallon, not less.
II. Electric
Sarasota households buy power from Florida Power & Light. Under the four-year rate agreement the Florida Public Service Commission approved in November 2025, the typical 1,000-kWh residential bill rises from $134.14 to $136.64 on January 1, 2026 — and the agreement runs through 2026-2029, with a transition credit that shrinks to zero by January 1, 2027.[3] Electric rates are set in Tallahassee, not by the county — but they land on the same household budgets the county's own increases land on, which is why the white paper counts them in the approved-increase stack.
III. Garbage
Solid waste is billed once a year on the property tax bill as a non-ad valorem assessment. Effective October 1, 2025, a single-family home pays $208.60 for disposal plus $302.17 for curbside collection — $510.77 a year, or about $42.56 a month.[4] The county's adopted FY2026 solid waste budget is $86,543,613, roughly $184 per resident (computed).
IV. County Spending Per Resident, by Service
The clearest way to read a government budget is to divide it by the people it serves. Using the adopted FY2026 figures and a 470,000 population estimate, the per-resident cost of the major services documented so far:[6]
| Service | FY2026 budget | Per resident (computed) |
|---|---|---|
| Law enforcement (Sheriff) | $225,500,000 | $480/yr[5] |
| Solid waste | $86,543,613 | $184/yr[4] |
This table will grow. General-government administrative cost, parks, libraries, transit, and the other budget lines require the same extraction-and-verification work that built this site's FY2015-FY2025 budget corpus, and a statewide per-citizen utility ranking requires comparable rate data from all 67 counties — neither is published as a ready-made table anywhere. Rather than estimate, this page states what is verified and adds lines as they are: that is the standard everything on this site is held to.
Footnotes & Sources
- 1.Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners, water and wastewater rate increase approved August 26, 2025, effective October 1, 2025: the average single-family bill at 4,000 gallons/month rose from $103.62 to $108.97 — a 6.4% water and 5% wastewater increase, funding the Peace River surface water treatment expansion. Water alone at that usage: $36.48/month. scgov.net public utilities
- 2.Sarasota County 2024 Water Quality Consumer Confidence Report: full compliance with all EPA and Florida DEP standards, zero drinking-water violations. PFAS sampling under the EPA's UCMR5 rule shows levels below upcoming regulatory limits. The T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. treatment facility uses an electrodialysis reversal process. 2024 Consumer Confidence Report
- 3.Florida Public Service Commission, November 2025 approval of FPL's four-year rate agreement (2026-2029): the typical 1,000-kWh residential monthly bill rises from $134.14 to $136.64 on January 1, 2026, with the transition credit declining to zero by January 1, 2027. floridapsc.com
- 4.Sarasota County solid waste non-ad valorem assessments effective October 1, 2025: $208.60 disposal + $302.17 curbside collection = $510.77 per year for a single-family dwelling. Adopted FY2026 solid waste budget: $86,543,613. scgov.net solid waste
- 5.Sarasota County Sheriff's Office FY2026 budget presentation: proposed $225.5M budget; regional per-capita law-enforcement spending comparison. Full detail on the Crime & Enforcement page. sarasotasheriff.org
- 6.Per-resident figures on this page are computed by dividing the cited budget or collection totals by a population estimate of approximately 470,000 (US Census Bureau 2024 estimate for Sarasota County) and are labeled as computed wherever they appear. census.gov QuickFacts