'One for All' sounds great — in '28

Happy first Monday of 2026! Let’s get into it.
​
Cutting to the chase: The One for All sales tax initiative is alive and well! But not this year.

For reasons I’ll get into momentarily, the movement that started on this blog a year ago is now so scrambled that it no longer makes sense.

---

The fact that the County Commission punted this thing until spring to allow for more community “feedback” means we’ll have less than eight months for public debate before it goes to the ballot, and that’s if commissioners vote to place it there without further delay.

Doesn’t mean the efforts up to now are a waste. Not at all. We’ve never done this before. It all has value moving forward.

But four significant events took place or are in the process that will derail the referendum. Taken separately, we might survive and get a positive vote in November. Combined, though, and it’s a perfect storm for failure.

Keep in mind. I’m not poo-pooing the effort, the idea, the concept, or even the need. The politics, however, no longer work in 2026. Here’s why:

— The process is scrambled. Everyone involved, including the County Commission, agreed on a process: Citizens would bring the sales tax suggestion to the County Commission, which would then decide whether to move forward with a referendum or not. 

We talked about this time and time again. How important it was for the effort’s success to have it fully citizen-driven, that the board’s only role was to create a spending plan from citizen wishes and vote to place it on the November 2026 ballot.

That was the board’s sole role. A significant one, but one that the commissioners THEMSELVES agreed to.

Guess what? The community had its say, and the County Commission ignored it. Now we’re going to get more feedback with a different group facilitating. What happens if Feedback No. 2 differs from Feedback No. 1?

I watched a video of the County Commission discussion from November about getting more feedback. I couldn’t tell from the conversation whether they were talking about a land-conservation program, or a sales tax, or both. 

This initiative is no longer citizen led. It’s a County Commission-led initiative under the guise of trying to nail down more citizen input before setting the referendum.

Feels like sleight-of-hand. Setting aside land for conservation is noble, but it's way too late in the game to slide that onto the ballot with the claim that it's community driven.

— If we want a sales tax simply for our biggest need, roads will win the popularity contest hands down. Our roads are in horrible condition, as anyone with a driver’s license knows.

The county hired a consultant to tell us how bad it is. It’s bad. According to this report, we have over $700 million in unfunded road needs. That’s a lot of potholes.

Remember, this is just a report. It’s not a policy. Commissioners haven't done anything with it other than lose sleep.

However, it’s our starting point. We hired a consultant, and that’s the number. So, going back to the penny sales tax. It raises about $25 million annually, or $250 million over 10 years. As you can see, we’re not touching the big road number.

Here’s the concern, and it’s a very real one: Commissioners place a 1% local-option sales tax on the November ballot, saying it’s for road repair and resurfacing…and the problem isn’t fixed. It’s a hard sell for sales tax advocates when the money being raised won’t be enough to address the need. Voters are unlikely to tax themselves to HELP fix a problem. 

A year ago, I thought a sales tax increase would get our roads to where they need to be in 20 years. The data says that’s a pipe dream.

If the County Commission still wants voters to consider a sales tax bump for road repair, it needs to break down that big number into some realistic priorities.

From my desk, that isn’t happening this year.

— You may have heard about an initiative floating around Tallahassee to significantly reduce or eliminate property taxes, which fund local government. It’s likely one of these ideas will end up on the November ballot as a constitutional amendment, and folks, we do not want our referendum in that scrum.

Look. Eliminating property taxes is the political flavor of the month, but it’s real and can’t be ignored. Mixing a local campaign to raise taxes with a state campaign to eliminate them, and you can guess who’s winning that tug-of-war.

On the other hand, commissioners have talked MANY TIMES the last four years about mixing up our local tax structure. Perhaps create a separate millage for road repair, or special assessments to get your neighborhood streets resurfaced.

Yet not a single significant change has occurred. Rather than salivate over the potential $25 million in sales tax, the County Commission could instead take this opportunity to create a sustaining tax system that is fair and balanced for our community.

— Finally, the biggest reason: No vision. Maybe we tried to cover too much too soon. I don’t know. But my “One for All” concept, whereby citizens would suggest a sales tax with universal county appeal, and the politicians would put it in place, and then we’d all vote it up or down in November…that idea no longer exists.

Instead, we’re marketing. Good grief. Rather than creating a citizen-led vision and tailoring a referendum to meet that vision, we’ve handed it over to “experts” who know how to get these things passed. Sorry, but count me out of that effort. I don’t want outsiders facilitating our most significant community conversation of the last 50 years.

So, my suggestion: Shelve the “One for All” local-option sales tax referendum for 2026, plan on it for 2028, and continue to work on the issues to unite our community.

I realize this will come as a surprise to many people who have seen me as the lead sales tax cheerleader during the last year. I’m disappointed, frankly, in how all this has gone.

Just gotta be realistic, folks. We place a bad referendum on the ballot and it loses, it’s years before voters will even consider another one.

The smart move is to wait. We’re not ready.

It’s great being back in the saddle. Have a wonderful Monday, friends.

​Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Individual donations are appreciated through Venmo, PayPal, or Patreon.