By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

Osceola County Commissioners Monday will decide how to word a Nov. 2 referendum asking voters to authorize the county to collect a 1 percent sales surtax to fund transportation projects.

Commissioners this past Monday were undecided on whether to include in the enabling ordinance for the referendum a list of road projects letting voters know how the sales tax revenue would be used. They also were undecided on whether to include mass transit as a funding target. Commissioners also must decide when the tax would expire.

The Osceola County Supervisor of Elections had requested the ballot language this past Monday because of the need to finalize the ballot for printing purposes but agreed to delay the deadline for a week.

The surtax, if approved by a simple majority of voters, would go into effect Jan. 1 and run through the end of December 2020. However, County Manager Don Fisher recommended the commission ask voters to approve a tax that would expire five years later.

Fisher said the longer time span would give the county the ability to issue adequate debt in order to accomplish needed road projects. The county manager also recommended that the county include a local vendor preference as a provision of the referendum.

“We think this is a good ordinance that would be accepted by voters,” Fisher said.

Among the high priority projects listed by the county for funding from surtax proceeds are: Osceola Parkway phase 2; Poinciana Boulevard phase 3, Neptune Road phase 2; Hoagland Boulevard phases 2 and 3; Old Canoe Creek Road; Boggy Creek Road phases 1 and 2; Shady Lane extension: Carroll Street; and Bill Beck Boulevard extension phase 1.

Commissioner John Quiñones said the list reflects a lot of “failing roads’ in terms of level of service and that any referendum asking voters for more money out of their pockets could well fail.

“There needs to be a great deal of education on what this money is going to be used for,” Quiñones said. “We have to be very specific and detail the roads. Unless we have that level of specificity along with education, this isn’t going to pass.”

Quiñones also said the county needs to reach consensus with the cities as well over what road projects should be funded with the tax.

Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr. agreed that any time you can tell voters what they are getting is better.

Commissioner Michael Harford said revenue from the tax also should be available for mass transit, including funding SunRail and Lynx.

“I am really disturbed that we would not be giving the public an increase in Lynx routes or other alternative sources of transportation,’ Harford said. "Not to include mass transit would be a mistake. My very strong concern is that this is very narrow and I realize there may be less support if we add mass transit.”

Harford also said that with a sales tax tourists would help pay for the county’s transportation needs.

Commissioner Ken Smith said funding to upgrade or complete east-west traffic corridors should be a priority, including an upgrade of Boggy Creek Road all the way to Narcoossee Road.

Commissioner Brandon Arrington said language on the ballot should include that the sales tax would be “improving Osceola County” as a way to make it more appealing to voters.

The county, by interlocal agreement, could share the revenue with the cities of Kissimmee and St. Cloud or even a county expressway authority. A 1 percent tax could generate more than $35 million annually, according to county documents. Only two county governments in Florida – Miami-Dade and Duval – now collect this surtax, and the amount is 0.5 percent in both cases.

The county already has a 1 percent local government infrastructure surtax, which is shared with the two cities and the Osceola County School District. The county gets about 54 percent of the revenue from this tax, or about $19.1 million annually. A new surtax would not be shared with the School District.