Why I’m voting YES to raise Broward sales tax a penny

Did you know there are currently over 60 people a day moving into Broward County and we are dead last in per-person transportation spending of all 67 counties in Florida? We have a math problem. If you think the traffic is bad now, can you imagine what it will be like 5 or 10 years from now if we do not do something about it?

We have an opportunity on Nov. 6 to provide a funding source to solve our transportation problem for the next thirty years and beyond. We are the only major county in Florida that still has a 6 percent sales tax.

I have reviewed the Proposed Plan for Regional Mobility & Transportation Enhancements that has been prepared by the county along with transportation consultants, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. It is comprehensive, detailed, inclusive, costed and time-lined.

The plan includes improvements to school zone safety, bike lanes, sidewalks, street lighting, greenways, intersections, signal synchronization, fiber optics, infrastructure, road enhancements, bus improvements, light rail and climate resiliency improvements. Over 700 of these projects are necessary projects put forward by the cities. All but one of our 31 cities in Broward have signed an Interlocal Agreement supporting the plan.

Many of these projects will have to be done whether the surtax passes, or not, so we will be paying for it from other tax sources. Over 30 percent of the sales taxes in Broward are paid for by visitors and the surtax will allow the county to leverage billions of dollars of state and federal funds.

Revenue from the surtax will be put in a separate fund, not accessible to fund other needs, and an independent Oversight Board is being established to ensure the funds meet the requirements of the plan.

Importantly, investments in transportation will help those who need it most. Service and other trades that need public transportation to their jobs. The benefit to those of us who prefer to drive is that more people will be on public transit so less will be on the roads.

Opponents of the plan and the surtax will tell you they do not like that the tax is for 30 years and that technology will change the transportation needs that far out into the future. My response — we always have and always will adjust to the needs of the future. When we built I-595 we did not know we would need express lanes, but we do now and the transportation experts figured it out.

Is the plan perfect? I am certain it is not — but it is very good, and we need to stop kicking the proverbial can down the road (pun intended). Vote YES on Nov. 6.