Orange sales-tax increase is unwise

Once again Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings wants the residents of the county and region to share the costs of improving our transportation infrastructure by increasing sales taxes.

Much, if not most, of the needs are due to the tourism and development (population growth) industries. And while I support both industries as an active real-estate professional and after living in Orange County for over 45 years, I find it immensely unfair for residents to shoulder any portion of the burden to subsidize these or any other industries.

I find this request highly insulting because he has not made a bona fide effort to utilize other sources of revenue that will not impose more taxes on the local residents, no matter how much may come from tourists.

These sources may include diverting some of the so-called hotel bed tax and/or increasing impact fees, so developers pay 100% of the impacts from development.

Furthermore, when Mayor Demings spoke at a Maitland City Council meeting several years ago trying to drum up support for the tax, he slipped and quietly let it out that the sales tax may further subsidize developers paying transportation impact/mobility fees.

Before requesting the residents to agree to increase our taxes, he and the County Commissioners should aggressive pursue other avenues of funding that are not onerous to the local residents and taxpayers. Then and only then should we be asked to consider further taxing ourselves. And if successful, at that juncture, I would wholehearted support an increase in sales tax. Anything less would be disingenuous.

Michael Dabby, Maitland