Getting new county road projects underway, as well as maintaining the ones already built, is likely going to require an additional $8 million this coming year. But a new battle on exactly how to raise that money has put two Pasco County commissioners on opposite sides of the debate.
Henry Wilson is continuing a controversial stance he took last year, saying he won’t support raising the local gas tax, and instead wants to explore other revenue sources including an increase in property taxes.
Ted Schrader, however, has no interest in raising property taxes, and says a 5-cent increase in gas taxes will shift the cost of maintaining the roads to the people who are using them, and in most cases wouldn’t even be passed on to the consumer anyway.
It’s a battle where Wilson has an early advantage, not because of support from other commissioners, but from a caveat that any gas tax increase requires the approval of four of the five commissioners, while a property tax increase of this size would only require a yes vote from three.
“People buy gas periodically, but when they get their (property) tax bill, they remember that,” Schrader said during a recent meeting at the Historic Dade City Courthouse, interrupted several times from quick power blackouts caused by a thunderstorm outside. “When you start incrementally adding on all these different assessments, they are going to remember that.”
Wilson says the county needs to increase revenue by $8 million, but “not via the gas tax.”
The debate erupted at the meeting after County Administrator Michele Baker tried to lock down how much commissioners were planning to spend on roads this year. The additional amount of revenue needed ranged from $5 million to $8 million, with the lower number possibly forcing some future road building projects to be delayed or cancelled altogether.
Earlier in the meeting, county budget manager Dan Risola told commissioners that even if the gas tax increase was passed on to consumers, it would equate to $7.50 annually for every penny. A 5-cent increase would mean an additional $37.50 annually, or $1.56 more per fill-up on a typical car that’s fueled up twice monthly.
The recommendation to use the full 5 cents also came from a group of community leaders led by Heidt Design president Patrick Gassaway.
“We like user fees for things like transportation,” he said. “It puts the burden where it should be.
“To tell elected officials that their best route is to increase taxes is, of course, something we recognize as a difficult thing for you to do. It is a lot like saving for college, but it is a great investment, and we all benefit from it.”
Using all 5 cents available to the county in gas taxes could have other positive effects as well, Gassaway said. If the county looks to get state or federal funding for projects, officials can show they’ve done everything they can locally to raise money by using the tools available to them.
Gas stations are not adept to raising prices just because of increases in taxes because they are focused on selling a specific number of gallons, Baker said.
“It would translate to the folks that were buying beer and Slurpees and cigarettes,” she said. “It’s inside the convenience store where they truly make the profits.”
Also not fully convinced about looking at a full gas tax was Commissioner Jack Mariano, but his position has shifted a bit from last year when he voted against any gas tax increase.
“It is a very complex subject,” he said. “Developers are going to get mad at us for not using the gas tax, and then you look at the regular people who is going to pay the tax.”
Mariano, like fellow commissioners Pat Mulieri and Kathryn Starkey, are willing to explore a mix of gas and property tax increases to hit the $8 million mark, although Mulieri has indicated she would go a full 5 cents in gas tax if needed.
Schrader, however, would have to convince both Mariano and Starkey to raise the gas tax to 5 cents to get the four votes needed. But Mariano has hinted in the past that he likely wouldn’t go higher than a 2-cent increase at the pump.
If Schrader refuses to vote in favor of any gas tax increase below 5 cents, commissioners would not have enough votes to raise the gas tax at all. That would mean looking almost exclusively at a property tax increase.
“We have to stop fighting one another,” Mulieri said. “This has been a good board, but it deteriorated two weeks ago. I see that wind blowing, and nobody is going to change their mind right now.”
Published June 18, 2014
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