Bradenton City Council to Workshop City Hall Issue

Posted Wednesday, September 7, 2022 12:00 am

Staff Report

BRADENTON – At Wednesday's Bradenton City Council budget workshop, commissioners will discuss the "proposed disposition of City Hall." The city is looking to sell the waterfront property in order to have it back on the tax rolls. Questions remain as to how and where city administration and the police department headquarters would be relocated.

The matter was first raised during a Capital Development Presentation in a January 26 meeting, when City Administrator Rob Perry told council members that he’d had discussions with an interested party. A price tag of $10-11 million (approximately what the building cost when constructed more than two decades ago) was mentioned by Perry (click here to watch).

This sparked concerns that the sale might not net the maximum value for taxpayers who would then be on the hook for the replacement costs of the two buildings, which could easily reach two to three times the sale price.

Commissioner Bill Sanders has been a vocal critic of how quickly the process seemed to get out of the gate and a seeming lack of transparency. Sanders said his primary concern was that taxpayers could be certain that they were getting the best value for both the sale and replacement properties.