All we really wanted was a vote

Where to begin.
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There is so much to say about what happened, or rather DIDN’T happen, at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting on the local option sales tax.

First off, I guess, the news. Commissioners discussed the penny sales tax idea for roads and buying conservation land. They didn’t reach consensus or even a vote. Zero direction. None. No plan to bring it back. Far as we’re all concerned, the thing is dead.

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What else are we to glean from this? Commissioners Diana Finegan and Jeff Kinnard were ready to place a referendum on the ballot. Finegan said she doesn’t think voters will go for it next year, but she wants to give them the opportunity. Neither made a motion.

Instead of a vote, commissioners left off with some vague notion that the private sector is going to pony up $25,000 for a study to confirm we’re ready for a referendum, and what the money should be spent on. The study would be conducted by a group that promotes tax referendums to buy conservation property. Three guesses how that study will pan out.

My disappointment falls into two categories:

— Commissioners hijacked the process from the community. Thanks for participating in that survey, 700 fellow Citrus Countians. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Let me be very frank here. I’m totally in favor of a private group raising money for the sales tax campaign, and then hiring an organization to run it. And I believe our citizens will step up in that effort. I know I will.

But all that happens AFTER commissioners vote to place it on the ballot. Until then, shouldn’t we keep the conversation in the family?

It bugs me that commissioners want to suspend the process in its infancy while it’s working. Everyone agreed that the chamber would have a steering committee (with commissioners choosing three members each). Everyone agreed the steering committee would conduct town hall meetings and an on-line survey. Everyone agreed the committee would present its findings to the County Commission.

And EVERYONE AGREED commissioners would decide from that survey whether to OK the referendum or not. 

At no time during did anyone suggest hauling in a third-party consultant, funded privately, even before the County Commission voted on the referendum. Odd that it wasn’t mentioned before.

— That leads to the second disappointment: No vote. Wow. I was so positive commissioners would vote to DO SOMETHING that I started writing a Florida Politics story with background. That story is unfinished.

Man, oh man. No motion. No vote. What are we to say about this?

What’s frustrating is the survey process handed this sales-tax discussion to commissioners on a silver platter. The survey told a story. More than half the participants supported the presence of a referendum in 2026. Most said they wanted the money spent on roads.

Isn’t this EXACTLY what I’ve been hearing from commissioners these last few years? We don’t have enough money to fix our roads. We need millions for roads. Our failing roads, roads, roads. 

Yet, when a community survey indicates support for a road sales tax, commissioners ditch the opportunity to give citizens that chance.

The funny thing is that the votes were there. Had Chair Rebecca Bays motioned to place a referendum on the ballot for roads, with the particulars hammered out in the coming months before a final vote, it would have passed at least 3-2, maybe even 4-1. Commissioner Holly Davis was the only one pushing conservation land. She may have been convinced to make it unanimous for roads.

Instead, no motion and no vote. And no clue where we go from here.

Is One for All in the rearview mirror? Not yet. But it’s difficult seeing a path forward.

Citizens are ready for this conversation. Commissioners have cold feet. Bummer.

Enjoy your Wednesday, friends.

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