School Board members want more money to build schools. County officials want more for roads, parks and other projects.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published February 9, 2004
With just four weeks left to convince voters, county commission and school board officials have begun crisscrossing Hernando County to sell their half-cent sales tax proposals.
Though their professed needs are quite distinct, and the two bodies are working separately on two different initiatives, the central message coming from each is similar: Using a relatively painless tax, government can provide services made necessary because of growth without incurring costly interest payments.
"I know. A tax," Commissioner Diane Rowden said, seeing a few frowns among the Senior Friends group she spoke to last Wednesday. "But this is really a tax that is going to help us all. ... We know growth is here. What's important right now is to know we have enough resources to pay for it."
School Board member Jim Malcolm tried Thursday to impress upon the Powell Middle School PTSA how little the tax would impact their daily finances. He asked the members whether they realized the school district's past half-cent tax had disappeared from bills this year.
"Have you noticed you're not paying that tax? I bet you don't," Malcolm said, the members shaking their heads to signal they had not recognized the tax had expired. "You don't notice it because you were paying pennies. And those pennies came out to $24-million."
He referred to the amount raised over five years to help pay for Nature Coast Technical High School, which opened in August.
It's a much less painful tax than if it hit property tax bills at the end of the year, both Rowden and Malcolm observed. At its maximum, the half-cent sales tax would be $25 on the purchase of a taxable item costing $5,000 or more.
Not only that, everyone - including visitors to the county and residents who pay little or no property tax - pays the sales tax, they said.
"Why shouldn't they help us, too?" Rowden wondered, adding that more than 4,000 residents pay $100 or less each year in property taxes.
Over 10 years, a half-cent sales tax would generate close to $70-million, budget officials for the School Board and County Commission have estimated. If voters approve, the School Board plans to use its revenue to build more schools, while the County Commission intends to funnel its share to maintain and improve roads, and build libraries, parks and other capital projects such as courtrooms.
Borrowing that same amount would cost taxpayers more to do the same thing, both Malcolm and Rowden said.
"We can raise between $60-million and $70-million on the half-cent sales tax over the next 10 years, or roughly half of what we need, or roughly $35-million to $40-million we won't have to pay in interest," Malcolm told the African-American Club of Hernando County on Thursday.
Rowden figured that bonding $70-million would generate almost $50-million in interest payments over 30 years.
"Just think how many more libraries, parks and roads we could build with that," she told the seniors group.
Response from the audiences has been supportive, with some caveats.
One woman challenged Rowden after Rowden said the commission intends to cut the property tax rate if the sales tax passes.
That promise is "only good while that commission is in for us," the woman said.
"No," Rowden admitted, "I can't guarantee you anything. But we honestly and sincerely believe this plan will work."
Debbie Walker-Druzbick, who organizes Senior Friends, sought assurances that the commission has a plan to use the money. Rowden answered that the commission approved a facilities master plan a few years ago, and it details where the money should go.
The commission also intends to keep putting money into the residential road system, she said, so the county does not see the roads fall into disrepair as they did over the past several decades.
Her answers seemed to satisfy the crowd.
At the African-American Club, president Harold Brown told Malcolm that people understand that institutional expansion generally follows growth. That's okay, he said, if the government plans adequately.
Brown urged the school district to make sure it builds new schools that can be added to, in the case that growth continues.
"No one minds paying taxes, in a sense, if they know the dollars are being spent prudently," he said.
Malcolm said the district knows land comes at a premium, and the board is responding accordingly.
"We're realizing we have to build smaller and up," he said, adding that the board expects to reuse architectural designs to save on fees. "We are thinking about this."
Both Rowden and Malcolm said the questions help them hone their presentations. And plenty more are planned. Any group wanting to schedule a presentation by the commission may call 754-4002; to schedule one by the School Board, call 797-7001.
The two tax questions will go to the voters on March 9. All voters, regardless of party affiliation, may participate.
