Derek Gilliam/Suncoast Searchlight

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.

Artists are pushing back in Sarasota after their artwork was removed from sidewalks and other public places under an FDOT directive.

Sarasota County administrators are stiff-arming recommendations from a stormwater consultant and plan to push another rate hike on residents despite a new audit showing the utility could have more than $70 million over the next five years without raising rates.Just two years after a substantial increase in stormwater environmental utility rates, Sarasota County staff is once again asking taxpayers to open their wallets to bolster water quality and flood protections ahead of future storms. The proposed tax increase comes as county leaders scramble to fill gaps in the stormwater system that last year left thousands of homes flooded in unsuspecting neighborhoods miles from the coast.A joint investigation by the Florida Trident and Suncoast Searchlight into the failures found the county ignored sediment buildup in Phillippi Creek, left key stormwater positions sitting vacant while work orders piled up and overlooked glaring system vulnerabilities noted by consultants years earlier. All contributed to a stormwater utility operating in disarray.