Herald-Tribune

A recently released citizen opinion survey underscores one reason that Sarasota County has been — at least in the pre-Hurricane Irma era — an attractive place to live and visit: Ninety-seven percent of the respondents rated the overall quality of life as excellent or good.

The 27th annual survey, supervised by the University of South Florida, gave high marks to Sarasota County and its assets, as well as to county leaders. Those assessments were made even as respondents cited “taxes” as the second-most important issue facing the county and, for the third year in a row, ranked “population growth/new development” as the most important.

Three years ago, “population growth/new development” replaced “economy/jobs” as the most-cited issue, a sign that the real estate and construction sectors have overcome the Great Recession and its aftermath — a crisis of such magnitude that the growth and development became a non-factor. From 2008 to 2013, “economy/jobs” was the most urgent challenge cited by respondents.

Yet, despite the recovery, one of the most significant findings of the 2017 survey was that more than two-thirds of the respondents said their households were experiencing “some financial stress”; only 31 percent said they were not, down from 34 percent in 2016.

These responses are supported by other measures, including economic analyses conducted by United Ways in Florida. Assessments by the United Ways found widespread evidence of serious, ongoing financial stress. For example, 33 percent of Sarasota County households — almost 60,000 — consistently struggle or fail to pay for necessities such as housing, food, transportation, medical treatments and care for children. Eight percent of those households live below the poverty line established by the federal government; another 25 percent are on the economic edge, or what the United Ways call Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed. (In Manatee County, 12 percent live in poverty and 31 percent are in the other category, totaling 43 percent of the households.)

Housing alone takes up a significant share of the costs facing these households. According to data collected by the Florida Housing Coalition and reported by Zach Murdock in the Herald-Tribune, 43,127 low-income households in Sarasota County — about one in four — are dedicating more than 30 percent of their incomes to housing, the maximum amount considered affordable by experts. Nearly half of those families are spending 50 percent of their earnings on housing. (In the survey, homeowners were “over-represented.”)

Note the last word in the ALICE acronym: Members of these household are employed. In Sarasota County, families of four — two adults and two young children — are considered ALICE if their total income is less than $56,520. For individuals, it’s $20,184 or less — a job that pays about $10 per hour.

Per capita income in Sarasota County is among the highest in Florida, due largely to the high levels of investment income and other assets enjoyed by a significant number of wealthy individuals and families. But the data also show that a substantial number of households struggle financially.

So, while the survey says the quality of life is excellent or good, remember that a large portion of the population isn’t living the high life.

Article last accessed here on Sept. 14, 2017.