Sarasota County Families Can No Longer Afford the County They Built — Audited Records Reveal $876 Million in New Spending and Debt, and Who Voted for It
A fully sourced review of the county's own audited records — 485 documents, 227,637 financial entries — released by Local Government Accountability ahead of the August 18 primary.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 22, 2026— Working families across Sarasota County can no longer afford the county they helped build — and a new investigation of the county's own audited records shows why, and who voted for it.
Local Government Accountability (LGAI), an independent 501(c)(4) fiscal-accountability research organization, today published the complete fiscal record of the Sarasota County Commission at SarasotaCountyFacts.org, released ahead of the Aug. 18 Republican primary.
Engaged by concerned Sarasota residents asking a simple question — where is the money going? — the organization spent seven months reading the county's own records: 485 official documents, 15,983 pages and 227,637 individual financial entries. No figure comes from a news account. Every number carries a verification badge and a one-click derivation.
The central finding: since the current board took office, Sarasota County added $876 million in new spending and debt in three years— county spending up 48% and bonded debt up 76% — and the cost falls on the people who live there.
What the record means for residents
Neunder, of District 4, and Smith, of District 2, were elected on platforms of fiscal conservatism and lower spending. The audited record documents the opposite: the largest spending and borrowing increases in the county's modern history, approved with their votes. A campaign promise of restraint, met by a governing record of record debt.
The commission's own members have described the trajectory. At an August 2025 budget workshop, Smith said, “We're spending money that we are not going to have. And we're running out of track and not slowing down.” He then voted yes on the budget.
“[They were allowed to] spend like drunken sailors, bonding millions of dollars for extravagant new buildings,” and the county is on “a path to destruction.”— Commissioner Tom Knight (District 3), Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2026
“These aren't our opinions — they are the county's own numbers, pulled straight from the audited books and the official minutes. We did the work so voters and reporters don't have to.”— An investigative forensic auditor with LGAI
After a thorough review of 485 official documents — including every board resolution, budget hearing and meeting agenda across the commissioners' terms — and a careful analysis of independent local and state investigative reporting, Local Government Accountability has concluded that, in the best interests of the citizens of Districts 2 and 4, neither Joe Neunder nor Mark Smith should be returned for another term. On this record, the organization's finding is that their reelection would be a disservice to the constituents who elected them.
Residents can review the complete evidence — and see who benefited from the spending — at SarasotaCountyFacts.org. Read The Case, the itemized Ledger, and the primary-source Sources.
IllustrationThey called it a tax cut. Your bill went up anyway.
On a fixed income, every dollar counts. The county trimmed the property-tax rate about 1.8% — then collected far more from homeowners as valuations climbed.
IllustrationIt now takes $87,170 to raise two kids here. The average worker makes $60,112.
The county added $876 million in new spending and debt in three years — about $7,189 per family of four — while families get priced out of the place they grew up.
Local Government Accountability
1250 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 700, PMB 5459, Washington, DC 20036
Website: SarasotaCountyFacts.org · localgovtinstitute.org/contact
Illustrative images are artistic depictions and do not portray actual residents. All financial figures are drawn from official public records and are independently verifiable.