A clear path to our sales tax vote

Happy Tuesday! Coming off a great three-day rest and jumping back in with another scintillating “One for All” sales tax blog.

(Hey! Wake up!)

Let me explain a little of what I hope to accomplish. Before we can have a talk about whether the community would support a penny sales tax increase, we first must understand the process of getting there.

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Yes, there are statutory deadlines and responsibilities that the county has when it places a 1-cent (1%) sales tax referendum on the ballot, which is our aim for November 2026. Those rules don’t kick in until after an official board vote, which hasn’t happened yet.

How do we get to that point? It has to come from the community first. 

Everyone plays a role. As mentioned last week, all I’m asking is for folks to follow along, not reach snap conclusions, and let’s see where this takes us.

Few things to remember:

— The revenue estimate is $24 million a year for one penny. That number is only going to go up. Tourists account for a quarter of that. Just don’t want us to forget that we’re talking serious money here.

— There are nine types of surtax allowed by law. Citrus County is eligible for some, not all, but only one stands out: local government infrastructure.

— Someone gave me a list of what the local government surtax can be used for. Let’s put it this way…I couldn’t think of a need not on this list. Paving roads, buying property and equipment, building schools, you get the idea. We can even build an animal shelter with it (forget I said that).

— A ballot referendum wins with a minimum 50%-plus-1 vote. The 60% rule for state constitutional amendments doesn’t apply.

The County Commission will be discussing a sales-tax referendum at its Feb. 11 meeting. Expect a roadmap to come from that discussion.

Here's how I would do it. Just one opinion.

​STEP ONE: Citizen’s feedback. Whoever is leading this early effort, and the chamber of commerce seems a logical choice, sets about gathering public input for three months. Town hall meetings, focus groups, plus some sort of online feedback should give us a pretty good idea of where the public is on this.

Remember, though…on point. Let’s not spend three months griping about the county, past commissioners, current commissioners, why this was done that way, why that was done this way, etc. This is serious talk about making things better within the framework allowed by law and reality. We need everyone to pitch in.

After three months, by mid-May, the chamber returns to the board with a report and recommendation. (This is a whole other blog, but I’d be shocked if that recommendation didn’t include a referendum.)

STEP TWO: County Commission takes that recommendation and devises a spending plan. Several months ago, I wrote a blog about the capital improvement plan, or CIP — pronounced See Eye Pea. (The least-read blog of 2024, thank you very much.) 

We need a CIP for this penny or people won’t vote for it. We’re going to see projects that cost tens of millions of dollars get done much faster. The county should spell all that out in as much detail as possible. 

My timeline for developing the CIP is three months. That takes us into August.

STEP THREE: County Commission tentatively approves the CIP, and we take it on the road. Get plenty of feedback. This is the time for commissioners and citizens to interact. Conduct at least one public workshop and two public hearings. 

It’s a gray area how much role commissioners themselves can play other than anything official, and officially, the general rule is hands off. Remember though, they haven't voted to do anything official yet at this point. I'll let people way above my pay grade figure that one out.

This process also takes up to three months. 

STEP FOUR: Unanimous County Commission vote in November 2025 places it on the November 2026 ballot.

What happens in those 12 months? Well, remember how I said the chamber should take the lead in the early stage? That’s to get us started. In my Pollyanna world, a steering committee or PAC composed of a diverse set of community members will move this to its successful completion.

I’ve had numerous Cattle Dog chats already and more are planned (l’ll meet anyone at Cattle Dog, send me a note if you’re interested). It’s a Just Wright Citrus priority to break down "One for All" in its entirety. Give me time. I’ll get to all of it. 

Look. We’re making sausage at the moment. It isn’t easy or fun. That's OK. This community is worth the effort.

​Have a great Tuesday, friends.

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