The cities of Sarasota and Pensacola have similar population sizes. Sarasota has a council-city manager form of government. Pensacola has a mayor-council government, in which the mayor serves as the CEO and heads the executive branch.
The General Government budgets of the two cities don’t compare evenly across the board. The proposed General Government budget of Pensacola is $5,781,970 higher than Sarasota’s FY 2016 budget, but there are differences in the services offered under Facilities Management and Neighborhoods. Also Sarasota has a city auditor department, which Pensacola does not.
However, when looking at the leadership of the two cities—city council/city commission, city manager/mayor’s office, public information and city attorney, Pensacola spends $669K more than Sarasota. The Human Resources and Financial Administration are nearly the same – Sarasota is $18K higher.
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On another note, the City of Sarasota has 208 police officers. The Sarasota Police budget for FY 2016 was:
Personnel: $25,570,056
Operating: $4,124,485
Capital Outlay: $374,256
Transfer Exp: $178,543
Total: $30,247,340
The proposed Pensacola Police budget for FY 2017
Personnel: $17,537,000
Operating: $3,691,500
Total: $21,228,500
The City of Pensacola has 204 funded positions in its police department.