The next general election is 11 months away. Yet local leaders are already gearing up for a new chance to ask voters to support increasing the sales tax.
But will that increase be by a half cent or a full cent? For 10 years or two decades?
Answers have not yet been determined. That’s what a consultant is working on – polling 400 residents around St. Lucie County, in Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce and the unincorporated county.
Results should be in by the end of January.
Last year, the half-cent, 20-year proposed increase failed by about 6 percent, leaving city and county officials figuring out how to move forward with funding various projects the sales tax revenues could have covered.
“There’s always more projects than money,” consultant Steven Vancore told the Board of County Commissioners and Port St. Lucie City Council during a joint meeting last week.
He told them the poll would help to determine the best option for garnering voter support.
Last year’s polling showed a 1-cent sales tax increase was a non-starter, while a half-cent increase would have been an easier sale. “We’re happy to re-test it,” Vancore said of revisiting the half- vs. full-cent question.
Virtually “no difference” was found between a 10-year or a 20-year term for the increase, he said, referring to the 2016 ballot initiative.
Vancore told the elected officials that one of the stumbling blocks identified from last year’s failure was a lack of time. Due to the Fire District’s endeavor to increase its own fee, the county and cities held off on pushing the sales tax initiative.
The reason was because they didn’t want to muddy the waters between what the Fire District was requesting and the county request.
Even still, both initiatives failed.
“We want to be data-driven,” Port St. Lucie Mayor Gregory Oravec said, adding that they’d need to wait for the polling data, as well as the city’s citizen survey, to be completed and analyzed before moving forward.
“The reality is, no one wants to pay more taxes,” said Port St. Lucie Councilwoman Jolien Caraballo, noting if the poll were to list the lower of the two options, that’s what people would select.
Vancore said the polling could start with the full-cent option, but warned that if the favorable response didn’t start above 50 percent, it’d be a “non-starter.”
Oravec pointed out one of the challenges facing Port St. Lucie specifically. The projects previously earmarked for sales-tax funding – road improvement, sidewalks, drainage, water quality, and the like – are all items residents already expect the city to take care of.
“They don’t see why they should come out of pocket,” he said, adding that they could win the initiative if Port St. Lucie’s list of projects is “forgive me, sexy enough.”
A citizen survey being conducted near the end of January or early February could help identify just such projects, according to City Manager Russ Blackburn.
Already, the city has identified Floresta Drive and Port St. Lucie Boulevard as two large road projects that could move forward sooner if the sales tax increase were approved.
“They need to see something in it for themselves,” Vancore agreed.
Once the results come back from the poll and survey, the boards expect to meet again to hash out a game plan for taking the question to the ballot and getting the public onboard.
Per state law, the governing agencies are not allowed to allocate funds and resources to advocating for or against the ballot measure; they are only allowed to educate.
However, they are allowed to express their own personal opinions and can do so at various community events and meetings, they were advised.
“We want everything nailed down six months before the election,” County Administrator Howard Tipton said. That would give the boards time to craft their education materials and ensure that those who might speak in public about the initiative have the proper talking points.
They plan to reach out to the business and civic communities, seeking champions who could advocate in favor of the sales take increase.
“Our doors are open,” Commission Board Chair Frannie Hutchinson said, addressing members of the business community who were in attendance at the joint meeting.
“Come talk to us. Or, let us come talk to you.”
