It's About Growth

State and federal budget cuts threaten to send various costs, from school funding to juvenile justice to mental health care, to the local level. The trauma center is still in desperate need of financial support. And Lee County Smart Growth director Wayne Daltry identifies two more crucial items: a funding mechanism for diverse needs in various communities, such as landscaping for Estero, and improved stormwater treatment to protect the region's lifeblood, coastal waters.

Could a half-cent or one-cent infrastructure sales tax, which seem to have worked wonders in other Florida counties, help fund some of these important projects and needs in Lee?

"[We] definitely would benefit from the debate," Daltry says. With a looming election and a limping economy, the timing isn't great for considering a new tax, but "with the needs that have been identified with the trauma and the school discussions, the debate's coming that will get the discussion out there," he says.

The key is to involve the community and lay all the cards on the table. "That is what Sarasota County did. They put it right out there and said, 'If you vote for this, this is what you'll get.' And people voted for it," Daltry says.

A local gas tax, impact fees and property taxes already fund roads and other infrastructure in Lee.

As of January, 23 of the state's 67 counties had local government option infrastructure sales taxes--either a half-cent or one cent per dollar up to $5,000, which remain in effect for a given number of years, says Dave Bruns, spokesman for the state Department of Revenue. With few exceptions, the revenue must be spent on capital projects and infrastructure. Unlike a property tax, a sales tax hits visitors and tourists.

Here's a look at how such a tax has fared in other counties.

In Charlotte County, where the population is closing on 150,000, voters renewed an extra penny's tax for a third term in 2002. It's expected to generate about $96 million in the six years it will be in effect. Voters supported the first tax in 1994 for four years as a way to pay for a jail and a new courthouse, then extended it for four years in 1998 to cover projects including new sidewalks and an evacuation route, says Ray Sandrock, the county's assistant budget officer. The most recent extension will fund more road projects, regional parks and boat ramps, commerce parks, a homeless shelter and school renovations, among other things. When voters saw what the initial tax accomplished, they became more willing to support it again, as long as they knew about and supported the project list, Sandrock says.

The Better Jacksonville Plan for Duval County and Jacksonville, which have a consolidated government, came from the mayor's question: "What would it take to make Jacksonville the perfect place to live, work and raise a family?" says Sharon Ashton, press secretary for Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney. After Delaney brainstormed with community and opinion leaders, his staff looked for ways to make his improvement scheme a reality. The result is a massive $2.2-billion plan that includes transportation and roads, drainage, sidewalks, bike paths, a new main library, new and renovated branch libraries, acquisition of conservation lands, park improvements, sewer improvements, cleanup of contaminated sites, an economic development trust fund, improvements to the Jacksonville Zoo, a new baseball park, a new courthouse, and a new sports and entertainment arena.

To pay for all this, 57 percent of the voters in Duval County, which has a population of almost a million, passed a half-cent sales tax in 2000. They agreed to pay the tax for 30 years or until everything is paid off; Ashton says the hope is to pay it off in "less than 20." So far, about 1,000 miles of roads have been resurfaced, the ballpark and one of the libraries opened in April, ground was broken for the new courthouse, and the arena will open in the fall.

In 1989, Pinellas County voters passed by a slim margin the original "Penny for Pinellas," effective through 2000. In 1997, the "extended penny," effective through 2010, passed by about a two-thirds margin, says Mark Woodard, assistant county administrator for management and budget. Before the original "penny," millage rates in the 1980s ranged from .5 mills to 2.091 annually to cover capital improvements. Woodard says the tax shifted about 35 percent to 40 percent of the tax burden to visitors and seasonal tourists.

From 1990 to 2000, the tax generated about $828 million for Pinellas, which has a population of around 928,000. It has helped build a jail, a criminal justice center, a 26-mile linear park that runs the length of the county, an alternative high school, the Bayside Bridge, parks and beach access, and improvements to drainage systems and public safety.

Both the "Penny for Pinellas" and the "Better Jacksonville Plan" laid out vast arrays of projects ranging from bike paths and street resurfacing to jails and parks. "Everyone found something on the list that triggered them to vote yes," says Jacksonville's Ashton.

Sarasota County voters passed its original penny sales tax in 1989 for 10 years by a 52 percent margin. In 1997 they renewed it, to expire in 2009, by 62 percent of the vote. With a county population around 348,000, the tax generates roughly $22 million annually, explains William R. Brown, general manager of fiscal planning and budget for the county. Twenty-five percent goes to schools; the remainder is distributed to the county and municipalities.

In addition to transportation and schools, the tax is funding hurricane shelters, libraries, parks, fire stations, courts, jails, animal control facilities, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and sewer improvements. "The beauty of it also is we've determined that about 30 to 35 percent of the revenue is coming from visitors and seasonal residents who use the facilities," Brown says. "We're real happy with this program. It has been beneficial to Sarasota."