While younger voters make a larger percentage of voters in the City of Sarasota, they continue to make a small portion of the electorate participating in city elections. While registered voters in their 20s now outnumber voters in their 70s, nearly eight times as many voters in their 70s cast ballots than voters in their 20s in a May 9 Sarasota City Commission election. That's according to SRQ's most recent Where The Votes Are analysis of election returns.

The analysis will be discussed at a special event Tuesday morning at SRQ's corporate headquarters at 331 South Pineapple Ave. in Sarasota. Doors open at 7:30am, with the presentation starting at 8am. A $5 cover includes coffee and bagels.  

It may not sound like a lot to cut Florida’s business rent tax from 6 percent to 5.8 percent, but after years of calling for the elimination of the levy, lawmakers home from legislative session say that education shouldn’t be ignored. “It’s a lot in the sense that we finally got something started,” says state Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton. “My goal next year is for us to continue whittling away at that.”

Florida today stands as the only state in the union to charge a tax on commercial leases, something conservative watchdog groups say makes the Sunshine State less competitive in terms of commerce. Florida businesses paid $1.7 billion in business rent taxes last year. “It is a tax on a tax and should be reduced or removed over time,” says Ian Black, a commercial real estate agent and owner of Ian Black Real Estate.

Gov. Rick Scott this year called for a 25-percent reduction in the tax, and Boyd says he has wanted to slash the tax for years. While the actual cut amounted to a little more than a 3-percent reduction, Boyd, now the House Ways and Means committee chairman, says this is the first time in seven regular sessions during which he has served when a cut in the tax has made the final budget.

The rent tax was among the top priorities for fiscal conservatives entering the session this year. “The business rent tax places a disproportionate burden on small businesses and startups that do not have the capital to purchase bigger office space, hire new employees or expand to other locations,” wrote Florida TaxWatch chairman-elect Pat Neal in a letter to SRQ. “All of this creates a chilling effect on many of Florida’s more than two million small businesses.”

The rent tax was part of $90.7 million in tax cuts included in the $82.4 billion passed by lawmakers this year. 

The performance of Sarasota County third-grade students who scored as proficient in the Florida Standards Assessment in English Language Arts rose by three percentage points compared to 2016 district results. The district’s 71-percent proficiency rate is 13 points higher than the statewide average of 58 percent. The assessment tests proficiency in reading and writing. In Sarasota County public elementary schools, 3,354 third-grade students participated in the April 2017 Florida Standards Assessment in English Language Arts. The results reported are based on all students tested, including students with disabilities, English-language learners and third-grade students retained from 2016. The percentage of third-grade students scoring in achievement Levels 1, 2 and 3-5 are provided for the district and the state in the table below. Students must attain a score of Level 3 or higher to be considered proficient and must achieve a score of Level 2 or higher to be promoted to fourth grade. 

Sarasota County Schools

Port Manatee and Guatemala are seeking to build upon their already significant relationship in the wake of a visit from Guatemalan Trade Commissioner Dunia Miranda-Mauri.Already ranked among Port Manatee’s top five trade partners, Guatemala exports fresh bananas, pineapples, melons and plantains, as well as frozen pineapple juice, into Port Manatee, while imports to Guatemala from the Central Florida Gulf Coast port are led by Kraft linerboard, vehicles, auto parts and lubricating oils.Vanessa Baugh, chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, said she welcomes the opportunity to enhance commercial ties between Port Manatee and Central America’s most populous nation.Mirandi-Mauri’s trip to Manatee County is among several such in-person visits to be coordinated by the International Trade Hub at Port Manatee since it began operation in 2014 to boost worldwide links for the county, port and local business interests.Port Manatee is the closest US deepwater seaport to the expanded Panama Canal, with ten 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavylift, project and general cargo customers. The port generates more than $2.3 billion in annual economic impact for the local community, while supporting more than 24,000 jobs, without levying ad-valorem taxes. 

Port Manatee

Michelle Crabtree, realtor with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty Lakewood Ranch office, was presented with the Florida Realtors Honor Society, 10th-year pin. The 155,000-member Florida Realtors established the Honor Society 30 years ago to recognize participation at the local and national levels of the Realtor organization activity in National Association of Realtor's institutes, societies and councils; for designations earned; for educational activities; and for political involvement. Crabtree is a third generation Sarasotan and has been a licensed Florida Real Estate Broker since 1982. She chaired the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee Communications committee in 2016 and currently serves on the RPAC committee. Crabtree was Director on the Sarasota Board of Realtors (SAR) 2008-2010 and received the SAR Meritorious Service Award in 2007. She was the Sarasota Women’s Council of Realtors’ Business Woman of the Year for 2009 and was also chapter president in 2007. In addition, Crabtree is a Five Star Real Estate Agent – Best in Client Satisfaction for 10 years. 

Michelle Crabtree - Premier Sotheby's