Sarasota County

Suncoast Searchlight reviewed water-restriction complaints and enforcement records across Sarasota County during Southwest Florida’s most severe drought in nearly a decade and found municipalities are taking sharply different approaches to enforcement. While some jurisdictions actively patrol for violations and issue citations, others rely primarily on education and warnings and provide few clear ways for residents to report violations. We also examine how the drought has heightened public scrutiny over water use, with hundreds of residents filing complaints about sprinklers, lush lawns and suspected overwatering during the regional shortage.

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.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is expanding its surveillance capabilities, tapping a state fund to purchase a software platform that offers AI-powered data analysis with the stroke of a key.

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.

During a special county commission workshop, staff planners outlined nearly $2.3 billion in transportation infrastructure needs over the next 13 years. But with only $573 million in projected revenue to pay for it, Sarasota County now faces a $1.7 billion shortfall.

Environmental experts and advocates on the front lines of water quality, conservation and scientific research gathered Wednesday to deliver a clear message: The Suncoast’s most pressing environmental challenges are often overlooked and deserve more attention. The panel, organized by Suncoast Searchlight in collaboration with the Science and Environment Council, aimed to highlight the gap between what experts are seeing on the ground and what makes it into the news — and how that gap might be closed.

Scientists say a wave of new research happening in Sarasota could help stop future outbreaks of red tide before they spiral into disaster.

Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst chairs a political committee that has moved millions of dollars from wealthy supporters of artificial intelligence, including the co-founder of Open AI, the company behind ChatGPT, to Byron Donalds’ candidacy for Florida governor.

The burn ban issued by Sarasota County Fire Department, which prohibited unpermitted open burns in Sarasota County has been lifted as of April 14. The ban was lifted as the Keetch-Byram Drought Index fell below 500 for seven consecutive days, reducing the wildfire threat in Sarasota County.

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.