The cat’s out of the bag.
And the state wants to know what the mice think of it.
The Florida Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability recently sent follow-up requests to the three island cities to ask for additional information, including the cities’ positions on their potential dissolution.
OPPAGA is a research arm of the Florida Legislature that supports the Legislature by providing data, research and analysis that assist legislative budget and policy deliberations.
It was tasked last fall with performing a study into the potential consolidation of the island cities.
The study was proposed by Rep. Will Robinson Jr., R-Bradenton, and unanimously backed by the Manatee County legislative delegation.
OPPAGA began the study last November by sending requests to the island cities for information and documentation from the last five fiscal years.
It also asked for narrative responses on the benefits and challenges of three possibilities for the island municipalities’ futures, including:
- All three cities are consolidated into one new city on the island;
- All three cities are incorporated into the city of Bradenton;
- All three cities remain incorporated municipalities on the island and work to consolidate existing services where that makes sense.
OPPAGA also asked the city of Bradenton for information about a month later and that request had a few changes from the island queries.
Most notably, the request sent to Bradenton asked for narrative responses to a fourth possibility for the island municipalities: dissolution.
Option 4 under Question 11 in the Dec. 15, 2023, Bradenton request states, “All three cities on Anna Maria Island are dissolved and the island becomes part of the unincorporated areas of Manatee County.”
Bradenton responded to OPPAGA’s information request with extensive documentation but did not provide narrative responses to questions 10 and 11.
According to records requested by The Islander, city administrator Rob Perry scheduled a Jan. 30, 2023, teleconference meeting with OPPAGA senior legislative analyst Michelle Chandrasekhar to discuss the unanswered questions.
There is neither a recording of that meeting nor minutes of its content.
Perry told The Islander March 15 that they had a “fairly brief” and “general” discussion in which they explored “redundancies, shared services, economies of scale and operational efficiencies.”
However, Perry said he would not speak to the city’s responses to questions 10 and 11 of OPPAGA’s information request. He said the questions involved a legislative matter that the city takes no position on.
Nevertheless, he said he did not believe the city provided the state with an incomplete response.
“We responded the best we could with the information available and with the information requested,” Perry said.
Follow-up requests
The second wave of OPPAGA requests contained some differences among the cities.
OPPAGA’s March 5 follow-up to the city of Anna Maria asked the city nine questions and requested the municipality respond by March 15.
On the other hand, a March 6 request to the city of Holmes Beach posed 11 questions and asked the city to respond by 3 p.m. Friday, March 22.
Many of the questions are the same, as all nine questions Anna Maria received also went to Holmes Beach.
The last question on both requests asks the cities to list known or potential benefits and challenges of dissolving the island cities into unincorporated Manatee County.
The survey states, “Please provide information on the following option for consolidation (Option 4): All three cities on Anna Maria Island become part of unincorporated Manatee County.”
Another question posed to both cities asks, “What is the status of projects to improve intra-island transportation? Is this unique to (island city) or part of a collaborative effort with all 3 island cities? Are there any additional plans or projects underway related to decreasing the use of cars on the island?”
The requests also ask both cities for additional employment, funding and performance information, as well as for the municipalities to detail contracted activities and capital improvement projects benefitting the cities.
Holmes Beach’s two exclusive questions involve follow-ups to the city’s responses to OPPAGA’s initial request.
One of the questions asks the city to provide its methodology for determining the municipality’s projected need for increases in police department staff and funding.
OPPAGA also asks the city to provide an emergency management plan.
Anna Maria Commission Chair Mark Short, who was on a March 5 conference call with the mayor and OPPAGA to discuss the follow-up questions, said March 14 that the city was on track to respond by OPPAGA’s March 15 deadline.
The Islander submitted a March 15 records request for Anna Maria’s responses, but the request was unfilled before the press deadline.
The city of Bradenton Beach did not fulfill a March 15 records request from The Islander for the OPPAGA follow-up information request it received before the press deadline.