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SRQ DAILY Sep 15, 2016

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Freshly Squeezed Content Every Morning

"This will benefit everybody who gets in a car or who has a child in school—or who is interested in employing an educated workforce."

- Mac Carraway, Forward Manatee
 

[Politics]  Sales Tax Campaign Launching in Manatee
Jacob Ogles, jacob.ogles@srqme.com

A group of Manatee community leaders today will launch a campaign in favor of two new sales taxes to fund schools, roads and other needs in the region. But the message won’t necessarilly be an easy sell in a county where taxes have been shot down by voters in recent history and opposition is already mounting. 

Voters on November 8 will decide whether to extend a half-penny sales tax for local schools that expires in 2017 and on whether to assess another half-penny tax to fund infrastructure improvements in Manatee County. The issues will appear as Measures 6 and 7 on the general election ballot.

For Mac Carraway, spokesman for the pro-tax group Forward Manatee, the referenda make sense. “We think they are synergistic as far as both will have an effect, if passed, on the quality of life in Manatee County,” he says. Carraway, owner of Carraway Consulting Group, chaired the Manatee County Financial Structure Advisory Board that recommended the county infrastructure tax, a direction only made after careful deliberation. There will also be citizen oversight on how the county commission and school district spend the money.

The money raised by the school tax would go toward improving or expanding school facilities, while the county tax will primarily be spent on addressing road and transportation needs, both issues broad and long-lasting benefits. “This will benefit everybody who gets in a car or who has a child in school,” Caraway says, “or who is interested in employing an educated workforce.” And best of all, he says, a third of the revenue raised through a sales tax would come from tourists and other out-of-town visitors to the region, a group that enjoys the roads and other infrastructure but doesn’t contribute to property taxes.

But taxes sometimes prove a hard sell in conservative Manatee County, where voters in 2014 shot down a sales tax that would finance an indigent health care fund. Linda Neely, who runs the NoTaxHikeManatee.com website and a related Facebook page, doesn’t think the district or county government need the funding or that the leadership will be responsible in its spending. Angry at school district decisions like a vote this year to shut down Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary, then voting just this week to let Rowlett Academy for Arts and Sciences to move ahead with a plan for new use of the site, Neely feels leaders are squandering resources as it is and don’t need more. “We are running back to the days when the superintendent covered up all the financial havoc,” Neely says, referring to financial problems that heralded former superintendent Tim McGonegal’s resignation in 2012. Noting the state already budgeted more for school districts this year, Neely doesn’t believe a fresh tax hike is in order, and while the school tax would be a continuation of a tax set to sunset, she says voters should treat both votes on the ballot as new taxes on the citizenry. 

Neely, also executive secretary of Tea Party Manatee, says plenty of concern about the spending habits of county and school officials should concern voters. Carraway, though, expects business leaders and concerned citizens will rally in favor of a tax with revenues that boost the community as a whole. Forward Manatee holds its kickoff at the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce with an event today at 5:30pm. 

[Daily Shop]  Spectral Sculpture
Taylor Young

Black twisted branches surround a glistening polished nickel skull, ominously beckoning guests into the beating heart of your home. This gothic-tinged piece brings an intense undertone of mystery to any tabletop, infusing any onlooker with a desire to know more. This sinister sculpture ups the wow-factor immediately—walk into Sarasota’s Black Bird Lifestyle and stop to admire the complexities and alluring aspects within. Imagine the endless options that this statement sculpture adds, fluently bringing depth to a lighter, more feminine coffee or side table, and expanding on the eerie gothic vibe. 

Black Bird Lifestyle, 1540 Main St., Sarasota, 941-366-0941.

[Expansion]  Pleas Formula Offering New Educational Classes

The Pleas Formula Salon is expanding their salon consulting firm’s class offerings with the addition of two new classes for stylists and owners to learn and build upon the French and American balayage technique. The Pleas Formula, founded by Coral Pleas, is both a national and international consulting company that offers the best in the salon business for instruction, management and exceptional education-based programs for stylists of all levels. 

The Pleas Formula

[Announcement]  National Merit Announces Semifinalists

Officials with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named the semifinalists in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. There are approximately 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, representing less than 1 percent of US high school seniors and the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Eight of the semifinalists from Florida attend local high schools: Manatee and Southeast. 

National Merit Scholarship Program

[Milestone]  Milestone in Financial Sustainability Initiative

Twenty Sarasota County families who were previously homeless recently celebrated a major milestone on their journey to self-sufficiency. Gulf Coast Community Foundation and United Way Suncoast launched the new Financial Sustainability Initiative in May. The families completed the first phase of an 11-month program to improve their financial literacy and decision-making while they build the financial assets necessary to avoid a relapse into homelessness and emerge from generational poverty. 

Gulf Coast Community Foundation

SRQ Media Group

SRQ DAILY is produced by SRQ | The Magazine. Note: The views and opinions expressed in the Saturday Perspectives Edition and in the Letters department of SRQ DAILY are those of the author(s) and do not imply endorsement by SRQ Media. Senior Editor Jacob Ogles edits the Saturday Perspective Edition, Letters and Guest Contributor columns.In the CocoTele department, SRQ DAILY is providing excerpts from news releases as a public service. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by SRQ DAILY. The views expressed by individuals are their own and their appearance in this section does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. For rates on SRQ DAILY banner advertising and sponsored content opportunities, please contact Ashley Ryan Cannon at 941-365-7702 x211 or via email

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