VERO BEACH — On Sept. 15, the Vero Beach City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution expressing the city’s support of extending the optional one-cent sales tax when it expires in December 2019.
Indian River County has had the penny added onto the six-cent statewide sales tax since it was approved by voters in 1989. In 2002 it was extended by a ballot initiative for another 15 years. The funds raised are divided among the local governments, and, according to City Manager Jim O’Connor, are used to fund improvements that the city would not be able to afford using property tax revenues alone.
“Sales tax to us is a major funding source for capital projects,” O’Connor said.
County Budget Director Jason Brown spoke to the council encouraging them to support placing the question of extending the tax on the 2016 general election ballot.
“It’s the best revenue stream for funding our infrastructure,” Brown said.
“It shares the burden because more than 30 percent of the sales tax is paid by tourists,” Brown said. “Infrastructure such as our roads and our libraries, all of our infrastructure is built for the peak time, so it makes sure that everybody is paying their share.”
Vero resident Mark Mucher rose to oppose the extension of the extra penny, saying “I fought against this last time, the optional sales tax is free money to politicians. Nobody is responsible for it and they have to spend it,” he said, adding that the cost of projects built using optional sales tax money often mushroom. “Don’t you think you’d be more careful if you had to vote and raise the money?”
Former Councilman Ken Daige reminded the council that initially, the tax was referred to as the “jail tax” because it was used to build the jail. Daige said residents deserve to know exactly where the money is going in the current budget cycle.
“Let us know what the projects are and what you’re using it for,” he said.
The City Council had a resolution from the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday to look at, but it had not been formatted in the way the city’s legal staff formats resolutions.
Council directed City Attorney Wayne Coment to bring back something for them to vote on at the Sept. 15 meeting.