Where Did $339 Million in Stormwater Fees Go?

For years, residents along Phillippi Creek have wondered: if we're paying stormwater assessments, why doesn't the system work?

After analyzing Sarasota County's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs), budgets, and financial transparency data, we have an answer — and it's not what most people expect.

The Numbers Don't Add Up

Since 2011, Sarasota County has collected approximately $27 million per year in stormwater assessments. Over 14 years, that's more than $339 million.

Yet the infrastructure has been neglected. Canals are silted. Waterways are clogged. When hurricanes hit, the system fails.

Follow the Money

Here's where it actually goes:

Category	Annual Amount	Percentage
Internal Service Charges	$12-15M	~55%
Personnel	$8M	~30%
Depreciation	$5M	~20%
External Contractors	$7M	~25%

Wait — that's more than 100%. That's because "expenses" include non-cash items like depreciation, and the internal charges are the hidden story.

The Hidden Siphon

Approximately 60% of stormwater "expenses" are internal service charges paid to other county departments:

Fleet Services (vehicles and fuel)
Information Technology
Risk Management and Insurance
Administrative overhead

These charges are legal. But they mean that only about $7 million per year actually goes to external contractors doing drainage work.

What This Means for Phillippi Creek

The stormwater fund was never really designed to maintain infrastructure. It's structured as a revenue source that subsidizes general county operations.

After overhead extraction, maybe $7-10 million per year actually reaches stormwater work. And how much of that went to our watershed?

The money was real, but it was being siphoned into overhead before it ever reached a dredging contractor.

The Path Forward

The good news: federal disaster recovery funds have been allocated. The county has committed to dredging.

The question now: will history repeat, or will residents finally get the infrastructure they've been paying for?

We'll keep watching. We'll keep documenting. And we'll keep advocating.

This analysis is based on public records including Sarasota County CAFRs, adopted budgets, and GovMax financial transparency data. All sources are available upon request.

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Where Did $339 Million in Stormwater Fees Go?