Would an existing committee be tasked with reviewing how Port St. Lucie would use its half-cent sales tax revenues starting in January? Or, would the city establish a new committee, requiring more meetings and staff time?
Those were questions asked and eventually answered by the Port St. Lucie City Council. For the Board of County Commissioners, however, there never was a question – a new committee, no debate.
“Thank you citizens of Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie County for voting for a better future and trusting us,” Mayor Gregory Oravec said to kick off the discussion about the needed oversight committee.
City leaders proposed a seven-member committee that would meet quarterly to review the funds coming in from the extra sales tax revenue and ensure the funds are being spent on approved projects.
City Manager Russ Blackburn said he envisions a committee that brings the community into the fold. It’s a vision shared by Councilman John Carvelli, who said having a separate committee would get more residents involved in city government and become potential ambassadors when the time comes to ask voters whether or not to renew the half-cent sales tax referendum.
Vice Mayor Shannon Martin didn’t see the committee the same way. Instead, she called for the city’s existing Budget Advisory Committee to take up the task of reviewing the sales tax funds.
Calling a second committee redundant, Martin said she could support a compromise of adding a couple more members to the Budget Advisory Committee.
That committee, she said, is already trained on the city’s budget and wouldn’t require additional staff time.
“It makes no sense to me,” Martin said. However, she ultimately voted along with her fellow council members to establish a separate seven-member committee.
Each council member is expected to nominate two people who reside within their district. Those names will then be forwarded to Mayor Oravec, who will choose between the two, per rules set forth in the City Charter. There will also be two at-large members of the committee.
City staff plans to bring back a draft resolution for the Dec. 10 council meeting.
Earlier this week, the Board of County Commissioners met to discuss how their own sales-tax oversight committee would be forged. Staff suggested a nine-member committee, but commissioners opted for a scaled-down seven-member group instead. Each board member will appoint a member living within their own district and two more will be appointed at-large. There will also be an alternate named.
Consideration will be given to applicants who have engineering, finance or planning backgrounds, according to the staff’s recommendation.
“We’ve wasted no time,” said County Attorney Dan McIntyre. He explained that the county’s staff had already created its recommendations, noting that it was “important to get ahead of this.”
Along with discussing the composition of the committee, commissioners raised a question about issuing a bond for the amount they expect to receive from the half-cent sales tax referendum. Doing so, according to Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky, would help the county construct projects in a more timely manner.
County Administrator Howard Tipton agreed that it could help with funding large projects, but noted that the bulk of the county’s project list consists of relatively small items, such as culvert replacement and sidewalks. Tipton said it was county staff’s opinion that pay-as-you-go would be the better method as it would mean no debt-carrying costs.
County staff plans to bring back a resolution to create the committee in December and advertise for applicants by year’s end. The committee could be seated sometime in January.
The half-cent sales tax referendum, approved by voters in the general election, will bring the current 6.5-cent sales tax to 7 cents. It will go into effect in January and remain in effect for a decade before sunsetting. Estimated revenue over the 10-year period is $217 million countywide. By the end of 10 years, Port St. Lucie would collect $88 million while the county would receive $108 million. Fort Pierce would get $21 million and St. Lucie Village would get $300,000.