Shifting Sarasota’s spring City Commission elections to the fall could temporarily extend commissioners’ terms by more than a year.

The City Commission will have several options to phase in new election dates that could temporarily extend commission terms by 18 months should voters in November choose to change the dates of city elections from March and May of odd years to August and November of even years to coincide with with federal, state, county and district elections. Decide the Date, a local campaign that launched a petition last year advocating for the change, collected 4,732 signatures — 996 more than the required 3,736 signatures — needed to put the issue before voters on Nov. 6. The referendum will ask voters whether they support moving city elections.