Special Investigation · District 2 · 7 Days to the Primary
What has Commissioner Mark Smith accomplished for you and your family?
Your family of four's share of county spending and debt just hit $24,004 a year — it was $14,593 when he took office.
County spending is growing eight times faster than the population — and Mark Smith voted YES on every dollar of it.
If you live in Siesta Key, Lido, Longboat, Newtown, or the north-county neighborhoods of District 2 — this is your commissioner and your ballot on August 18.
- $24,004— your family of four's share of county spending + debt this year(it was $14,593 when he took office)
- +64% — how much that burden grew in just four years($3,648 → $6,001 per resident)
- 4 for 4 — Mark Smith voted YES on every budget($9.16 billion in total spending authority)
- 0 — times he voted NO on spending, millage, or bonds(all 28 NOs were zoning only — 26 passed without him)
By the SarasotaCountyFacts.org Investigative Data Team
Reported from Washington, D.C. · Published August 11, 2026
WASHINGTON — If you live in District 2 — Sarasota's coastal and north-county neighborhoods — Mark Smith is your commissioner, and he is asking you to rehire him this November. So our data team asked the question his campaign will not answer with numbers: what has he actually done for you? We reviewed every one of Sarasota County's audited financial statements since 2015, and we reviewed the county's financial documents and official board minutes as they pertain to the actual voting record of Commissioner Mark Smith — beginning with his first recorded board vote on December 13, 2022 and running through June 2, 2026. What those documents show is not a story about growth, inflation, or hurricanes. It is the record of what your commissioner voted for — and what it costs you.
The tsunami aftermath, summarized
- During this time he has voted a total of 980 times: 952 YES, 28 NO — with zero abstentions in the compiled record. On every annual budget, every millage rate, and every bond, his vote was YES.
- Spending: he inherited an audited annual spending level of $823.2 million — that was $1,820 per citizen, or $7,279 for a family of four, in 2022. His votes have since raised it to $1.219 billion audited (FY2025) and an estimated $1.472 billion this year — $3,019 per citizen, up 66%.
How we got this number
FY2022 audited spending (the last full fiscal year before Smith took office) was $823,178,295 (county ACFR, Total Primary Government expenses). Divided by the state's 2022 population estimate of 452,378 = $1,820 per citizen, × 4 = $7,279 per family of four. FY2025 audited: $1,218,555,245 ÷ 487,640 = $2,499. FY2026 estimate: $1,472,374,181 ÷ 487,640 = $3,019 per citizen — method in footnote ².
- Debt: when he was elected, Smith inherited $827.3 million of county debt — $1,829 per citizen. His YES votes on all 39 bond and borrowing resolutions of his term have added roughly $627 million of new debt, putting the total at $1.454 billion by year-end — $2,982 per citizen, or $11,929 per family of four.
How we got this number
FY2022 audited debt outstanding: $827,292,000 ÷ 452,378 = $1,829 per citizen. Audited FY2025 debt: $1,230,309,000 (+$403.0 million, already audited). FY2026 year-end estimate: $1,454,272,000 (+$627.0 million vs. inherited; method in footnote ²) ÷ 487,640 = $2,982 per citizen, × 4 = $11,929. The county's own FY2026 plan puts total committed principal-and-interest at $2,104,565,409.
- So after just 3.5 years of his voting, your family's combined spending-plus-debt share is $6,001 per citizen — $24,004 per family of four — up from $3,648 and $14,593 when he took office.
How we got this number
2022: ($823,178,295 spending + $827,292,000 debt) ÷ 452,378 = $3,648 per citizen = $14,593 per family of four. 2026 estimate: ($1,472,374,181 + $1,454,272,000) ÷ 487,640 = $6,001 per citizen = $24,004 per family of four. That is +64.5% in four fiscal years; $5,022 of it is already audited through FY2025.
- Here is the irony of it all: in 3.5 years he never once said no to spending — his 28 NO votes were about zoning. Late-night entertainment on Siesta Key. A day-care center. A place of worship. A telecommunications tower. A neighbor's coastal setback variance. Not one budget, not one millage, not one bond — and 26 of his 28 NOs passed anyway, without him.
The 30-second record
- ■For seven years before Mark Smith, county spending and debt per person stayed nearly flat. That is what normal looks like.
- ■He took the District 2 seat on November 22, 2022. The flat line ended. Everything above happened on budgets and bonds he personally voted YES on.
- ■He inherited $823 million in annual spending and $827 million in debt. Both crossed $1 billion for the first time in county history on his watch.
- ■Your combined burden is now $6,001 per person — $24,004 for a family of four.
- ■He never once voted against a budget, a millage rate, or a bond. His 28 NO votes were all zoning. 26 of them passed without him.
Every number comes from Sarasota County's own audited financial reports and official board minutes. Full methodology and original documents below.
“It took Sarasota County its entire history to borrow its first $827 million. The board Mark Smith votes on nearly doubled it in four years — and he never once voted no.”
What $24,004 actually means for you and your family
If you rent: your landlord's property-tax and insurance bills are baked into your monthly rent. When the per-person county burden rises 64% in four years, that pressure lands on your rent check — one reason costs keep climbing even when broader inflation cools.
If you own a home: you pay it directly on your tax bill. The debt is the quiet part. Nearly $1.5 billion of county borrowing is not paid by “the government.” It is paid by every future tax bill in this county — including your children's — for decades. The county's own documents put the total payback with interest at $2.1 billion.
If you are on a fixed income: every extra dollar the county spends or borrows works its way into groceries, gas, insurance, and services from businesses that pay higher county taxes and fees and pass them straight into their prices. You cannot negotiate with a price tag.
Population growth does not explain it. From 2015 to 2022 the county added 60,288 residents while the per-person burden stayed essentially flat. On Mark Smith's watch growth slowed, yet the combined burden rose 64%. More neighbors should have shared the cost. Instead each person's slice got bigger.
While your costs climbed, he kept saying YES.
“Nobody mailed you a $24,004 bill. You're paying it anyway — in rent, insurance, groceries, and every price in this county.”
The voting record
Official board minutes, December 13, 2022 – June 2, 2026
980
recorded votes
952 YES· 28 NO · zero abstentions
- ■Budgets and millage adoptions: 15 of 15 YES
- ■Bond and borrowing resolutions: 39 of 39 YES
- ■Every NO vote was zoning or land-use(day-care, place of worship, telecom tower, Siesta Key late-night entertainment, coastal setback variance…). 26 of the 28 NOs passed without him.
In 3.5 years he never once said no to spending. Not one budget. Not one millage. Not one bond.
One commissioner proved a NO was possible. On the FY2026 budget Tom Knight dissented. Mark Smith voted YES.
All five commissioners own these votes. This report focuses on Mark Smith for one reason: he is YOUR District 2 commissioner, and his seat is decided on YOUR ballot on August 18.
The receipts · Data brief
Don't take our word for it. Here is every number, sourced to the county's own documents.
Every figure below comes from each government's own audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (“ACFR” — the official year-end financials, checked by outside accountants) — extracted from the official statistical tables and cross-verified digit-for-digit across two report years per government. Per-resident figures use the state economist's official population estimates. All five governments' fiscal years end September 30. Audited through FY2025 except the City of Sarasota (FY2024). Published August 2026.
Exhibit 1
The flat line ended the day Mark Smith was sworn in — and your family's share started climbing
Sarasota County government: total spending per resident (blue) and total debt outstanding per resident (red), FY2015–FY2025 audited, plus the FY2026 year-end pro forma (dashed). Mark Smith was sworn in November 22, 2022 — seven weeks into FY2023.
How to read it:from FY2015–FY2021 the lines barely moved. From the moment he was sworn in, both lines turned sharply upward. Population growth does not explain the break — these are per-person figures. This is the exact moment the bill for District 2 families began rising. Every budget that produced these numbers received Mark Smith's YES vote.
How we calculated the 2026 estimate¹
Not audited — the FY2026 ACFR publishes in early 2027. Projected spending and debt are taken from the county's own certified documents — the Adopted FY2026 Financial Plan (996 pp.) and the Preliminary FY2027 Financial Plan. Spending ≈$1,472M applies FY2025's audited realization ratio (audited expenses were 58.3% of the adopted budget) to the adopted FY2026 budget of $2,524,495,075. Debt ≈$1,454M repeats FY2025's actual net debt growth (+$224.0M) on FY2025's audited $1,230.3M — corroborated by the Adopted FY2026 Plan itself, which schedules $158,128,202 of new FY2026 borrowing (Sheriff facility, Fire/EMS, surtax projects) and states total committed principal-and-interest of $2,104,565,409. The per-resident figures deliberately assume no additional population growth: the denominator holds the FY2025 EDR population (487,640) flat rather than adopting the state's 2026 projection, because that projected increase is concentrated in unincorporated growth corridors and North Port, is not yet realized or audited, and mixing a forecast denominator into document-anchored numerators would dilute the fiscal change this exhibit isolates. Even the most conservative floor — FY2024's lower expense ratio and only the county's own scheduled borrowing net of principal paydown — yields ≈$5,246 per resident.
Shareable version
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What the numbers above mean at a District 2 kitchen table. The record behind it: every budget, every millage, every bond — 952 YES votes, while the combined spending-plus-debt burden went from $3,648 per resident when Smith took office to an estimated $6,001 this year (+$2,353 per resident, +64%, of which +$1,374 is already audited through FY2025).
Exhibit 2
Both spending and debt crossed $1 billion for the first time in 175 years of county history — on budgets he voted for
Sarasota County government: total spending (accrual expenses) and total debt outstanding, FY2015–FY2025 audited, plus the FY2026 pro forma¹ (dashed).
*FY2026 (dashed, open circles) is the pro forma from the county's own adopted plans — see footnote ¹ in Exhibit 1. Audited values: FY2025 spending $1,218.6M, debt $1,230.3M.
Source: Sarasota County FY2025 and FY2024 ACFRs, Statistical Section (Changes in Net Position; Ratios of Outstanding Debt by Type). FY2026 pro forma¹: Adopted FY2026 Financial Plan + Preliminary FY2027 Financial Plan.
- ■Two billion-dollar thresholds, one term. In 175 years of county history, neither total spending nor total debt had ever crossed $1 billion. Both crossed it during Mark Smith's term.
- ■Debt grew +$404 million audited (FY2022 $826.1M → FY2025 $1,230.3M) — a 49% jump in three audited years, before FY2026's scheduled $158.1M of new borrowing.
- ■The payback bill is bigger than the debt: the county's own schedules put total repayment, with interest, at $2.1 billion.
Exhibit 2A
Population growth does not explain this. His YES votes do.
More neighbors should have lowered each family's share. Instead it rose 64%. Both lines indexed to FY2015 = 100 so they share one axis. If spending merely kept pace with growth, the two lines would sit on top of each other. They did — for seven years. Then Mark Smith was sworn in.
*FY2026 (dashed, open circles): spending is the pro forma¹ from the county's own adopted plans; population is the state economist's 2026 projection (495,267). Audited FY2015–FY2025: population +24.4% — spending +100.4%.
How to read it: from FY2015 through FY2022 the county absorbed 60,288 new residents (+15.4%) while the spending line tracked modestly above population — the normal cost of serving more people. From FY2022 to FY2026 the population line rises just 9.5 points more. The spending line rises 107 points in the same window. Growth did not slow down the moment he took office and then explode — spending did.
Exhibit 2B
Strip out the four cities that tax and build for themselves, and the excuse gets even worse
Same chart, but the population line now counts ONLY residents of unincorporated Sarasota County — excluding North Port, City of Sarasota, Venice, and Longboat Key, each of which levies its own taxes and funds its own infrastructure. These are the residents county government most directly serves.
*FY2026 (dashed, open circles): spending pro forma¹; the unincorporated line deliberately assigns all of the state's projected 2026 countywide increase to the unincorporated area — the assumption most favorable to the county. Audited FY2015–FY2025 unincorporated growth: +19.1% (248,687 → 296,149) vs. spending +100.4%.
Why this cut matters: since Mark Smith took office, roughly four in ten of the county's new residents landed in North Port alone — a city with its own commission, its own millage, and its own roads budget. The people unincorporated county government actually serves grew just 5.8% audited under his watch (FY2022→FY2025), while county spending grew 48.2% audited — and 79% through the FY2026 pro forma¹. Whichever population you measure, the spending curve left it behind the year he arrived.
Exhibit 3
Sarasota County: the complete verified series
Shaded rows are the Mark Smith years (FY2023 was his first fiscal year in office; FY2024 was the first budget he adopted). FY2026 is the year-end pro forma — see footnote ².
| Fiscal year | Spending | Debt | Population | Spend / person | Debt / person | Combined / person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $607,622,968 | $620,286,000 | 392,090 | $1,550 | $1,582 | $3,132 |
| FY2016 | $664,778,121 | $625,502,000 | 399,538 | $1,664 | $1,566 | $3,230 |
| FY2017 | $698,667,304 | $618,793,000 | 407,260 | $1,716 | $1,519 | $3,235 |
| FY2018 | $722,473,638 | $600,013,000 | 417,442 | $1,731 | $1,437 | $3,168 |
| FY2019 | $764,352,303 | $628,885,000 | 426,275 | $1,793 | $1,475 | $3,268 |
| FY2020 | $803,974,067 | $648,029,000 | 434,006 | $1,852 | $1,493 | $3,345 |
| FY2021 | $765,631,520 | $706,853,000 | 441,508 | $1,734 | $1,601 | $3,335 |
| FY2022 | $823,178,295 | $827,292,000 | 452,378 | $1,820 | $1,829 | $3,649 |
| FY2023 | $968,754,151 | $826,147,000 | 464,223 | $2,087 | $1,780 | $3,867 |
| FY2024 | $977,119,786 | $1,006,346,000 | 479,027 | $2,040 | $2,101 | $4,141 |
| FY2025 | $1,218,555,245 | $1,230,309,000 | 487,640 | $2,499 | $2,523 | $5,022 |
| FY2026 pro forma ² | $1,472,374,181 | $1,454,272,000 | 487,640 (held flat) | $3,019 | $2,982 | $6,001 |
² FY2015–FY2025 are audited accrual actuals. The FY2026 row is a PRO FORMA, not audited: projected spending and debt are derived from the county's own Adopted FY2026 Financial Plan and Preliminary FY2027 Financial Plan (spending = FY2025's audited 58.3% realization ratio applied to the adopted $2,524,495,075 budget; debt = FY2025 audited debt plus FY2025's actual net growth, corroborated by the plan's own $158.1M of scheduled new FY2026 borrowing). Population deliberately assumes NO additional growth — the FY2025 EDR count is held flat rather than adopting the state's 2026 projection, since that projected increase is concentrated in unincorporated growth corridors and North Port and is not yet realized or audited. The audited FY2026 ACFR (early 2027) will supersede this row. The gross FY2026 adopted budget itself is NOT shown in this series — an all-funds budget is roughly twice accrual expenses by construction; budget-to-budget outlook is in Exhibit 10.
Source: Sarasota County FY2025 ACFR (FY2016–FY2025, verified against the FY2024 ACFR for every overlapping year); FY2024 ACFR (FY2015). FY2026 pro forma: Adopted FY2026 Financial Plan + Preliminary FY2027 Financial Plan. Population: Florida EDR, April 1 estimates.
Exhibit 4
Before and after: the seven years prior vs. the Mark Smith years
Average annual change in Sarasota County per-resident figures.
| Measure | FY2015 → FY2022 (7 yrs) | FY2022 → FY2025 (3 yrs) | Acceleration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spending / resident, avg. change per year | +$39 | +$226 | 5.8× |
| Debt / resident, avg. change per year | +$35 | +$231 | 6.6× |
| Combined / resident, avg. change per year | +$74 | +$458 | 6.2× |
| Total spending, avg. change per year | +$30.8M | +$131.8M | 4.3× |
| Total debt, avg. change per year | +$29.6M | +$134.3M | 4.5× |
Source: Computed from Exhibit 3.
- ■Read that table again: every single measure accelerated four- to six-fold the moment Mark Smith arrived. There is no gradual trend here — there is a before, and there is an after.
- ■In the seven years before them, your per-person share grew $74 a year. Under them, $458 a year — every year, compounding.
Every measure. Four to six times faster. The year Mark Smith took his seat.
Exhibit 5
Debt per resident, 2015 vs. latest audited year: the county went one way, its largest city went the other
Same accounting basis, same population source, every jurisdiction.
| Jurisdiction | Debt / person, FY2015 | Debt / person, latest audited | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarasota County | $1,582 | $2,523 (FY25) | +59% |
| City of North Port | $1,308 | $1,011 (FY25) | −23% |
| City of Venice | $2,304 | $2,826 (FY25) | +23% |
| City of Sarasota | $2,316 | $3,123 (FY24) | +35% |
| Town of Longboat Key | $1,903 | $5,633 (FY25) | +196% |
Source: Each government's own ACFR, latest audited year (FY2025 for all except City of Sarasota, FY2024).
Exhibit 6
City of North Port: nine years of debt paydown, then a FY2025 reversal
| Fiscal year | Spending | Debt | Population | Spend / person | Debt / person | Combined / person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $86.2M | $81.4M | 62,235 | $1,385 | $1,308 | $2,693 |
| FY2016 | $84.9M | $75.3M | 64,472 | $1,316 | $1,167 | $2,483 |
| FY2017 | $100.4M | $70.2M | 67,196 | $1,495 | $1,045 | $2,540 |
| FY2018 | $108.7M | $67.2M | 70,631 | $1,538 | $951 | $2,489 |
| FY2019 | $114.8M | $60.6M | 73,652 | $1,559 | $823 | $2,382 |
| FY2020 | $126.6M | $58.2M | 77,561 | $1,632 | $750 | $2,382 |
| FY2021 | $122.1M | $53.5M | 78,129 | $1,563 | $685 | $2,248 |
| FY2022 | $146.6M | $48.6M | 81,823 | $1,791 | $594 | $2,385 |
| FY2023 | $222.4M | $46.5M | 86,552 | $2,570 | $537 | $3,107 |
| FY2024 | $197.2M | $43.3M | 92,399 | $2,134 | $468 | $2,602 |
| FY2025 | $214.9M | $97.3M | 96,301 | $2,231 | $1,011 | $3,242 |
Debt fell every year from $81.4M (FY2015) to $43.3M (FY2024) — cut nearly in half while population grew 48% — then $58.1M of new Sales Tax Revenue Bonds in FY2025 took debt to its highest dollar level in city history. FY2023–24 debt uses the FY2025 ACFR's restated Schedule 9 (SBITAs added). FY2026 adopted budget: $321,990,920 (budgetary basis).
Source: City of North Port FY2025 ACFR (audited through FY2025; cross-verified against the FY2024 and FY2023 ACFRs).
Exhibit 7
City of Venice: two bond generations
| Fiscal year | Spending | Debt | Population | Spend / person | Debt / person | Combined / person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $53.0M | $49.3M | 21,418 | $2,475 | $2,304 | $4,779 |
| FY2016 | $62.3M | $44.9M | 21,849 | $2,851 | $2,054 | $4,905 |
| FY2017 | $61.8M | $78.4M | 22,306 | $2,770 | $3,513 | $6,283 |
| FY2018 | $67.8M | $77.0M | 22,781 | $2,977 | $3,381 | $6,358 |
| FY2019 | $65.7M | $75.1M | 23,315 | $2,819 | $3,222 | $6,041 |
| FY2020 | $71.0M | $74.9M | 24,016 | $2,955 | $3,119 | $6,074 |
| FY2021 | $68.6M | $72.3M | 26,103 | $2,627 | $2,770 | $5,397 |
| FY2022 | $74.7M | $69.2M | 26,728 | $2,795 | $2,589 | $5,384 |
| FY2023 | $99.5M | $65.1M | 27,793 | $3,579 | $2,343 | $5,922 |
| FY2024 | $88.6M | $63.6M | 28,967 | $3,059 | $2,195 | $5,254 |
| FY2025 | $93.5M | $84.2M | 29,802 | $3,137 | $2,826 | $5,963 |
The 2017 debt jump is the voter-approved public-safety GO bond; the 2025 jump is new revenue bonds and notes. The 2021 population step is the 2020 Census revision, not one-year migration. FY2026 adopted budget total pending verification against the city's own document.
Source: City of Venice FY2025 ACFR (audited through FY2025; cross-verified against the FY2021 ACFR).
Exhibit 8
City of Sarasota: audited through FY2024
| Fiscal year | Spending | Debt | Population | Spend / person | Debt / person | Combined / person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $145.1M | $122.5M | 52,905 | $2,742 | $2,316 | $5,058 |
| FY2016 | $145.5M | $112.8M | 53,865 | $2,701 | $2,093 | $4,794 |
| FY2017 | $153.6M | $104.3M | 54,641 | $2,811 | $1,909 | $4,720 |
| FY2018 | $153.0M | $120.8M | 55,832 | $2,741 | $2,163 | $4,904 |
| FY2019 | $179.9M | $121.8M | 56,692 | $3,173 | $2,149 | $5,322 |
| FY2020 | $157.6M | $116.4M | 57,683 | $2,733 | $2,017 | $4,750 |
| FY2021 | $141.4M | $126.9M | 55,386 | $2,552 | $2,291 | $4,843 |
| FY2022 | $145.1M | $153.7M | 56,494 | $2,569 | $2,721 | $5,290 |
| FY2023 | $197.8M | $192.0M | 57,005 | $3,470 | $3,367 | $6,837 |
| FY2024 | $221.9M | $181.0M | 57,943 | $3,829 | $3,123 | $6,952 |
Debt jump FY2022→FY2023 (+$38M) is the special-obligation bond issuance (Bobby Jones / capital program). The 2021 population dip is the 2020 Census revision. FY2025 adopted budget: $305,678,879; FY2026 adopted budget: $303,575,381 — the city's budget declined 0.7% year-over-year (both budgetary basis, from the city's own budget books).
Source: City of Sarasota FY2024 ACFR (cross-verified against the FY2022 ACFR); FY2025 and FY2026 Adopted Budget books.
Exhibit 9
Town of Longboat Key: the county's highest per-resident debt, now paying down
| Fiscal year | Spending | Debt | Population | Spend / person | Debt / person | Combined / person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | $25.3M | $13.0M | 6,845 | $3,692 | $1,904 | $5,596 |
| FY2016 | $28.6M | $22.9M | 6,879 | $4,153 | $3,331 | $7,484 |
| FY2017 | $33.7M | $19.4M | 6,934 | $4,858 | $2,803 | $7,661 |
| FY2018 | $32.5M | $21.8M | 6,990 | $4,646 | $3,116 | $7,762 |
| FY2019 | $33.7M | $52.1M | 7,043 | $4,781 | $7,392 | $12,173 |
| FY2020 | $34.1M | $47.6M | 7,098 | $4,808 | $6,711 | $11,519 |
| FY2021 | $37.2M | $63.6M | 7,519 | $4,943 | $8,458 | $13,401 |
| FY2022 | $39.3M | $58.3M | 7,519 | $5,228 | $7,749 | $12,977 |
| FY2023 | $39.0M | $52.9M | 7,537 | $5,175 | $7,014 | $12,189 |
| FY2024 | $40.5M | $47.5M | 7,532 | $5,378 | $6,305 | $11,683 |
| FY2025 | $72.0M | $41.9M | 7,445 | $9,674 | $5,633 | $15,307 |
Debt tripled in FY2019 (undergrounding revenue bonds) and peaked in FY2021 at $8,458 per resident — the highest of any government in the county — then fell for four straight years to $5,633. FY2025 spending rose 78% ($40.5M → $72.0M): hurricane Helene/Milton recovery. Population is the full town, including the Manatee County side.
Source: Town of Longboat Key FY2025 ACFR (audited through FY2025; cross-verified against the FY2024 ACFR).
Exhibit 10
County budget-to-budget: the FY2026 adopted budget jumped 20.8% in a single year ��� and its debt-service line jumped 56%
Adopted budgets compared only against other adopted budgets (same budgetary basis, all funds including reserves and transfers). A gross budget is roughly twice accrual expenses by construction — the two measures must never share a table column or chart line.
| County budget | Total (all funds) | Change vs. prior | Debt service line |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 adopted | $2,014,910,533 | — | $102,109,340 |
| FY2025 adopted | $2,089,303,625 | +4% | $95,406,272 |
| FY2026 adopted | $2,524,495,075 | +21% | $149,128,818 |
| FY2027 preliminary | $2,530,632,539 | +0% | $109,270,219 |
The FY2026 debt-service appropriation of $149.1M (up from $95.4M in FY2025, +56%) is the county's own budget confirming the debt trajectory going forward. The FY2027 preliminary plan holds the total roughly flat but projects debt service back down — a projection, not a commitment.
Source: Sarasota County adopted budget documents, FY2024–FY2026, and FY2027 Preliminary Financial Plan (verified line-by-line against the county's own books). FY2026: Resolution 2025-163, adopted Sept 24, 2025, 3–1, Knight dissenting.
- ■The debt-service line is the tell: a 56% one-year jump in what the county must pay just to service its borrowing. That line item alone — $149.1 million — is the county's own budget admitting the debt curve is real.
- ■One commissioner proved a NO was possible. The FY2026 budget passed 3–1, Tom Knight dissenting. Mark Smith voted YES — as he did at every budget and millage adoption of his term, 15 for 15.
Exhibit 11
The term scorecard: four budgets Mark Smith voted on — $9.16 billion in total spending authority
FY2023 ($1.455 billion) is the pre-term baseline — the last budget adopted before he took office. His first budget vote, FY2024, jumped it 38% in one year to $2.015 billion; FY2025 followed at $2.089 billion; FY2026 at $2.524 billion (+74% vs pre-term); and the FY2027 preliminary plan stands at $2.531 billion. The debt-service line alone jumped 56% in one year, to $149.1 million, in the FY2026 budget he voted YES on.
| Budget year | Total (all funds) | vs. FY2023 pre-term baseline | Debt service line |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 (pre-term baseline) | $1,455,000,000* | — | n/a |
| FY2024 adopted — voted | $2,014,910,533 | +38% | $102,109,340 |
| FY2025 adopted — voted | $2,089,303,625 | +44% | $95,406,272 |
| FY2026 adopted — voted | $2,524,495,075 | +74% | $149,128,818 |
| FY2027 preliminary — voted | $2,530,632,539 | +74% | $109,270,219 |
| Term total (4 budgets) | $9,159,341,772 | $455,914,649 |
*FY2023 total from the county's own Citizens Guide chart (“Total Budgets FY22–FY26”), published rounded to millions. FY2027 is the preliminary plan total; the adoption vote is September 2026.
From the county's own documents: the FY2023 pre-term budget was $1.455 billion (county Citizens Guide chart, rounded). His first budget vote — FY2024 — jumped it 38.5% in a single year, and by FY2027 the budget stands 74% above the pre-term baseline. The four budgets he voted (or will vote) total $9,159,341,772 in spending authority, carrying $455,914,649 in combined debt-service appropriations. The FY2027 Preliminary Financial Plan he will vote on this September commits $609.8M (24.1% of the budget) to capital and debt service and launches a five-year FY2027–FY2031 Capital Improvement Program. On the audited side, total county debt rose from $826.1M (FY2022, pre-term) to $1,230.3M (FY2025) — +$404M, +49% — with FY2026's audit still to come.
Source: Sarasota County Citizens Guide to the Adopted FY26 Budget (county Communications, 10/21/2025); FY2024–FY2026 adopted budget documents; Preliminary FY2027 Financial Plan incl. CIP FY2027–FY2031 (July 16, 2026); FY2025 ACFR. All archived in the project document store.
- ■$9.16 billion in spending authority across the four budgets of his term — carrying $455.9 million in debt-service appropriations alone.
- ■His very first vote set the tone: FY2024 jumped the budget 38.5% over the pre-term baseline in one year. By FY2027 it stands 74% above where he found it.
- ■And one more is coming: this September — weeks before the election — Mark Smith votes on a FY2027 plan that commits $609.8 million to capital and debt service and launches a five-year borrowing program.
Exhibit 12
FY2026 adopted budgets, all jurisdictions (budgetary basis)
| Jurisdiction | FY2026 adopted budget | Basis note |
|---|---|---|
| Sarasota County | $2,524,495,075 | All funds incl. reserves & transfers |
| City of North Port | $321,990,920 | Excl. transfers & retained earnings |
| City of Sarasota | $303,575,381 | Summary of All Funds (p. 83) |
| City of Venice | pending | Awaiting the city's own document |
| Town of Longboat Key | pending | Awaiting the town's own document |
Source: Each government's adopted FY2026 budget document, archived in the project document store.
There is another candidate on the August 18 ballot.
Kristina Sargent is the Republican challenger. She has made the county's spending trajectory and infrastructure priorities the center of her campaign.
The primary is open to every registered voter in District 2 and decides the seat. No November contest.
You have seen the record. On August 18, District 2 decides whether it continues.
Friends don't let friends vote until they've seen this
Sarasota's working families can't out-spend the special interests — but we can out-share them. Send this page to five neighbors in District 2 before August 18. Every share is a doorstep conversation the insiders can't buy back.
Sources, methodology & verified data (every number checkable)
- Spending = ACFR Statistical Section, Total Primary Government expenses (accrual).
- Debt = ACFR Statistical Section, total primary government outstanding debt.
- Population = Florida EDR official April 1 estimates.
- Voting record= official Sarasota County BCC minutes, Dec 13 2022 – June 2 2026.
- FY2026 figures are pro forma (not audited). Method: FY2025 audited realization ratio applied to adopted budget; debt continues recent net growth, corroborated by the county's own scheduled $158.1 M new borrowing. Population denominator held flat at FY2025 for conservatism. Floor estimate using lower realization ratio ≈ $5,246 per resident.
- All figures cross-verified digit-for-digit across two ACFR vintages per jurisdiction.
Download the complete verified CSV used for every chart and table.
Original ACFR PDFs and board minutes: Sarasota County ACFRs · BCC minutes archive · North Port ACFRs · Venice finance · City of Sarasota finance · Longboat Key finance