After a lengthy discussion, and despite the support of dozens of prominent local organizations, Lake County Commissioners voted against a 5-cent local option fuel tax that would have funded road resurfacing in the county.
Commission Chair Leslie Campione and Commissioner Anthony Sabatini voted against the tax, denying it the required supermajority vote.
Lake County currently charges 10-cents per gallon in state and local fuel. Under the proposed ordinance, the locally-imposed tax would have increased from 7-cents per gallon to 12-cents per gallon on Jan. 1, with the additional five cents going toward road resurfacing.
Resurfacing is separate from road improvements such as road widening, safety upgrades, intersection improvements, new road construction and other capacity projects that are funded predominantly by impact fees.
Currently, resurfacing is funded by a combination of sales tax, general funds and Municipal Service Tax Units, or MSTUs, which is a tax assessed on the value of a home and levied against unincorporated properties in Lake County for stormwater, parks and road purposes.
Several local municipalities sent representatives to Tuesday’s meeting to advocate for passage of the fuel tax. Speakers included Sandi Moore of the Leesburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Clermont Deputy City Manager Dan Matthys and David Colby, president and CEO of the South Lake Chamber of Commerce, among other attendees.
Each spoke in support of the tax, arguing its necessity in comparison to surrounding counties that have levied the full 5-cent local option gas tax.
One person, Minneola resident Cheryl Pavlacka, spoke against the tax during public comment, saying she would rather see a more measured increase rather than implementing the full five-cent tax immediately.
“I believe we can gradually implement a tax a cent at a time,” she said. “Why not start with two cents and see how well we do against those roads?”
The Lake County Board of County Commissioners ultimately denied adopting an ordinance that would levy a five-cent fuel tax to every gall of motor fuel sold in the county.
With the exception of Orange County — whose funding sources are often buoyed by the sales tax generated from theme parks — and Sumter County, all counties bordering Lake County levy the full five cents.
Of Florida’s 67 counties, 35 counties levy the full five cents while 28 counties do not, and four counties — Miami-Dade, Hendry, Escambia and Okaloosa — only levy a portion.
“Unlike our peer counties, Lake County has not used the diversified funding strategies to keep our roads safe and economies strong,” Moore said. “Those counties combine local gas taxes, sales tax, surface taxes, mobility fees and grants to build sustainable funding. We have to rely on bonds just to pave roads and it’s not sustainable.”
While acknowledging that “nobody likes a tax”, Colby said he spoke on behalf of the South Lake Chamber’s over 1,000 business members in supporting the fuel tax as very necessary.
“Our quality of life, as well as our economic prosperity, is directly linked to our roads, and we feel that this needs to move forward at this time,” he said.
Commissioners were split on their support for the tax, weighing concerns about taxing residents further with the dire need for an injection of funds to help fix rapidly deteriorating roads in the county.
Commissioner Timothy Morris said he was in favor of the fuel tax, arguing that it is the easiest way to directly fund road improvements.
“I’ve got ten trucks a day I run, and it’s just as easy and just as cheap to fuel in a county that’s got the 5-cent on it as it is in Sumter County,” he said. “I don’t have an issue with it at all. I think it’s time that we need to do something, and it’s going directly to what we need to have done, which is the roads.”
While not fully opposed to the tax, Campione said she would rather have Lake County residents make the decision through a vote rather than imposing the tax through a county ordinance.
“It’s just not something I’m going to support. I think the voters of Lake County might support it,” she said. “I would certainly go to bat and try to put that out there and see if we can get that support, but I’m not going to vote in favor of adding a new tax in Lake County right now. I don’t think it’s the right time to do that, it’s tough as it is with the property taxes, but we all have a lot of expenses and I’m just not going to go there.”
Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980.
