Sarasota County weighs financial impact of COVID-19

That Sarasota County will face a loss of revenue from the country’s battered economy is a given. How great that impact will be is unknown.

But the county’s budget office isn’t just sitting around waiting until late May before they get the first glimpse of that impact. Instead, they’re running scenarios with their sophisticated modelling software to paint a picture using a variety of assumptions to begin planning.

It’s the same process they used during the red tide event two years ago, and the Great Recession of 2008 Chief Financial Officer Steve Botelho told commissioners during their April 8 meeting.

Despite the gloomy financial horizon, there’s a shining star out there like Venus in the night-time sky, and that’s the recent AAA rating the county received from two rating agencies for its Legacy Trail bonds.

Botelho called that a “monumental milestone,” adding that the county’s strong reserves contributed greatly to that.

The county has $194 million socked away in its various reserve funds including $20.8 million in an economic uncertainty fund.

But for right now, the county isn’t waiting.

“We’re looking at anything we can do that’s not service level,” Botelho said.

Changes to service levels are decisions that commissioners must make. But matters such as hiring or travel for training can be limited or curtailed without action by commissioners.

Another example cited by Botelho was a landscaping refreshment project around the administration center, which was halted.

Asked about capital improvements, Botelho indicated that staff “has stopped anything that might not be critical,” adding that commissioners would get a full report next month.

That’s when commissioners will hold their first workshop of the year as they begin considering their budget for the 2021 fiscal year, and give staff directions for the rest of the current fiscal year as the revenue picture becomes clearer.

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