A state study that could steer the fate of Anna Maria Island’s governance is underway.
P.K. Jameson of the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability wrote Oct. 31 to the three island mayors announcing that OPPAGA is studying the potential consolidation of the three municipalities.
“As directed by the Legislature, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability is reviewing the potential benefits of consolidating municipal services and government structures for Anna Maria Island,” Jameson wrote. “OPPAGA expects to begin this review immediately.”
OPPAGA is a research arm of the Legislature that supports the lawmakers by providing data, research and analysis to assist them in budget and policy deliberations.
State Rep. Will Robinson Jr., R-Bradenton, first questioned the number of governments needed on the island at a January Manatee County Legislative Delegation meeting.
The local delegation includes Robinson, Sens. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, and Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and Reps. Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch, and Mike Beltran, R-Apollo Beach.
Robinson motioned to commission a study on AMI’s governing structures and to present options to the delegation for the state’s 2024 legislative session.
The session will begin Jan. 9 and is set to run until March 8.
The delegation unanimously approved Robinson’s motion.
While the study was initially tabled so the island mayors could discuss the consolidation study among themselves, those talks didn’t make it far.
Robinson and Boyd brought the study back to the forefront in August when they wrote the island mayors calling for feedback about the study ahead of their Oct. 5 delegation meeting.
The mayors agreed to embrace the study but pushed to change the scope of the study to explore consolidation of services, not municipalities.
The state lawmakers have not addressed the cities’ request and did not discuss the study at their Oct. 5 delegation meeting.
However, Jameson, in his Oct. 31 letter, wrote that the study would explore the consolidation of “municipal services and government structures.”
Jameson added that OPPAGA staff would schedule meetings with the mayors and/or city representatives to discuss procedures for the study.
Boyd and Robinson have not responded to numerous calls to their respective offices from The Islander regarding the study since reporting on the subject began in February.
Here’s a novel idea. Let’s waste taxpayer money and invent a problem that does not exist so the county and developers can plunder AMI.