Officials blast bill as assault on home rule

Would make it more difficult to raise sales tax for county projects

Central Florida officials are concerned about a bill moving quickly through the Legislature they fear would make it more difficult for local governments to gain voter approval for local-option sales taxes to fund road improvements or capital projects.

The proposed state law (HB 5) would require the approval of at least two-thirds — or almost 67 percent — of voters in a general election to allow a county or local government to raise the sales tax.

That would be a huge change from the current requirement. Counties now can raise the sales tax by up to 2.5 cents above the state’s rate of 6 cents on the dollar with the support of a majority of voters to build roads and schools, buy police cars or firetrucks, fund mass transit and more.

Seminole County officials at a recent meeting said the bill would add another hurdle for local governments to obtain funding for critical projects.

“If it passed in its current form, it’s going to have possibly a dramatic effect on future county development,” Seminole Attorney Bryant Applegate told county commissioners.

Lake County Commissioner

Sean Parks called the bill “an assault on home rule,” another example of legislators attempting to tell counties how they can raise money to provide services.

“It’s government closest to the people that works best,” Parks said. “And there’s this continuous erosion of local home rule that his happening with the Legislature. … It’s taking away a county’s way of handling the day-to-day issues.”

In November 2015, Lake residents voted to renew a penny local-option sales tax that had been in place since 1988 and divided among the county, school district and Lake cities, with proceeds going toward school improvements, road repairs and other projects. Voters supported the extension with 71 percent of the vote.

In Osceola County, voters will head to the polls May 21 to decide whether to add a penny to the county’s sales tax, taking it to 8.5 cents for every dollar. The revenue from that extra penny would generate about $67 million annually to be used for roads, bridges, sidewalks, trails, bus service and SunRail.

Regardless of the fate of the bill in Tallahassee, the ballot measure would still require approval from only a majority of voters If enacted, the law wouldn’t take effect until the November 2020 general election.

“It’s another example of the state telling us at the local level what we should and shouldn’t do in the business of running the county,” Osceola County Commission Chairwoman Cheryl Grieb said.

The proposed law also could make it more difficult for Orange County to obtain funding for mass transit.

At a recent event, Orange Mayor Jerry Demings said he wouldn’t rule out raising the county’s sales tax from its current 6.5 cents on the dollar as part of a plan to raise money to pay for SunRail, Lynx or another form of mass transit.

An Orange County spokeswoman said county officials are tracking the bill but so far have not expressed any concerns.

In May 2014, Seminole voters approved increasing the sales tax by a penny, to 7 cents on the dollar, for the next decade to improve roads, build trails and buy new school classroom equipment. The measure was approved in a special election by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin.

At the time, Seminole officials said the money was sorely needed to pay for infrastructure improvements after county reserves had dwindled to about $5 million. This budget year, the extra penny tax is estimated to generate $76 million, with the county receiving $42 million, the school district $19 million and Seminole cities sharing $15 million.

The proposed bill by state Rep. Nick DiCeglie, RIndian Rocks Beach, also would require sales-tax referendums to be held only during general elections and not during primaries or at special elections. The idea is that the general elections draw more voters to the polls.

DiCeglie didn’t return calls for comment.

The bill also would mandate that before a sales-tax increase could go before voters it would have to be reviewed and audited by the state’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability 180 days before the referendum.

“They could possibly stop the referendum from occurring,” Applegate said. “You just can’t make this stuff up.”

Seminole commissioners also blasted the bill for trying to restrict counties’ ability to govern themselves.

“I find it ironic that state legislators often talk about the overreach out of Washington,” Seminole Commissioner Jay Zembower said. “But this is absolutely no different. It’s them dictating to us from Tallahassee.”

Commission Chairman Brenda Carey agreed.

“Our entire board is in support of sending the message [to the state Legislature] to stop messing with our home rule,” she said.

Seminole Assistant County Manager Meloney Lung said countywide measures calling for sales-tax increases in Seminole have consistently been approved by voters because they know the revenues will be put to good use in improving roads, trails, school buildings and other infrastructure.

“The citizens have always been supportive of these measures,” she said. mcomas@orlandosentinel .com

“I find it ironic that state legislators often talk about the overreach out of Washington. But this is absolutely no different. It’s them dictating to us from Tallahassee.” Jay Zembower, Seminole commissioner