Derek Gilliam/Suncoast Searchlight

If Florida voters approve Amendment 3 in November, cities and counties across the state could lose roughly $12 billion a year in property tax revenue — forcing local officials to cut spending, find other sources of money or shrink the services they provide. What would that mean on the Suncoast?

State lawmakers have tried to address the affordability crisis by encouraging more attainable housing development. But experts say one of their biggest efforts yet — the Live Local Act — will instead flood the market with units that fail to address the core need. Many will remain out of reach for middle-class renters like teachers, secretaries and firefighters.

Sarasota County's attempt to stop thousands of apartments from being built in rural communities is now facing the legal challenge the county attorney warned was likely all along.

The ongoing fight between Sarasota County Schools and Tax Collector Mike Moran over millions in tax dollars is now drawing attention in Tallahassee, where state lawmakers are proposing a change that could clarify who pays the cost of collecting voter-approved school taxes.

The fate of a more than century-old downtown Sarasota building could be headed to court following a last-ditch effort from a preservation group trying to stop it from being razed for luxury condos. A Naples-based developer has used a controversial state law known as the Live Local Act to bypass downtown height restrictions while also tapping the city’s density bonuses to pack nearly 190 units on just over 2 acres.

Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. Turns out, the fight isn’t over. Behind the scenes, county, school and tax officials spent the next few days sparring over whether Tuesday’s commission vote actually restored the decades-old practice — or whether another formal vote would be required before the money could be released to the school district, according to emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight.

Just days after the Sarasota County School Board sued Tax Collector Mike Moran over millions of dollars withheld from a voter-approved school tax, county commissioners Tuesday voted to reverse course and resume covering the cost of collecting the tax.

The Sarasota County School Board and two county taxpayers have filed a lawsuit against Tax Collector Mike Moran and the constitutional office he controls alleging “unlawful diversion” of taxpayer funds that were supposed to support local students.

In a unanimous vote that could set up a major legal showdown, Sarasota County commissioners this week moved to block developers from building large apartment complexes next to rural homes and farmland, rejecting applications amid legal uncertainty over a controversial state law.

A free event — dubbed “Beneath the Surface: The Environmental Stories Shaping our Community” — starts at 3 p.m. April 15 inside the Bayfront Community Center in Sarasota behind the Municipal Auditorium. Presented in partnership with the Science and Environment Council, it is part of Suncoast Searchlight’s ongoing community engagement series supported by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.