Caution
We read the fine print
Amendment 3 · November 3 ballot
If it passes, people who own the home they live in save about $1,078 a year in Sarasota County, whether the house is worth $280,000 or $10 million. Renters get nothing directly. The county loses $87 million a year and has five ways to make it up. We walk you through all of it, with 14 real households and no endorsement.
Read the voter guide →sarasotacountyfacts.org/amendment-3
The race is over · The record isn't
One last correction before we go: our numbers were too low.
All campaign we said your county government added $876 million to your tab. We kept auditing after the polls closed. It turns out we lowballed it — the final, fully sourced figures came in higher. Our parting gift to the citizens of Sarasota: every number, re-checked and re-published, at its new permanent home.
The Facts + The Solution: what it costs your family, 15 charts from the county's own audited books, and a plan to claw back $50M–$140M a year without cutting a service.
The permanent record
The Case, as we published it
Everything below stays online, exactly as the citizens of Sarasota read it during the August 2026 primary. Press conferences come and go — the public record doesn't.
The Argument
The Case
The full brief against both incumbents — claims, numbers, and the records behind them.
Read the case →Every Transaction
The Ledger
Every documented dollar — itemized, dated, and tied to the vote that approved it.
Open the ledger →District 4 Record
The Vote Records
Every money vote both incumbents cast — sourced to board minutes, searchable, and permanent.
See every vote →The Receipts
The Evidence File
County minutes, audited financials, campaign filings — 15,983 pages, all downloadable.
Check our work →Vote records: Neunder · Smith — Historical note: figures on archived pages were accurate as published. The corrected, final figures live at SarasotaFiscalTruth.com.
The coverage
Newsroom
Statement
The public record belongs to the citizens of Sarasota — and no press conference can take it back.
Investigation
Built for the wealthy. Unaffordable for everyone else.
Flagship
The $876,000,000 Man: three years, 866 yes votes, every one itemized.
Investigation
What Mark Smith accomplished for your family: a $24,004 tab.
The Verdict
The Observer’s litmus test: "They had four years. They should not be rewarded."
Investigation
The hypocrisy file: his campaign cried “ineligible.” The officials who print the ballot never objected.
What's next
November is coming. So are we.
The commissioners' race was the first audit — not the last. As the November election takes shape, this newsroom will cover the races the records tell us to cover. Same method: primary documents, every claim sourced, corrections in public.
A project of Local Government Accountability