Agenda Item Name:
Title
Local Government Infrastructure Sales Surtax for Wild Spaces Public Places, Road Repair, Fire Stations and Public Facilities, Economic Development, and Affordable Housing
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Presenter:
Gina Peebles, 352-538-8265
Description:
Public Hearing to Adopt an Ordinance, subject to Referendum approval, to levy a 1% Local Government Infrastructure Sales Surtax for Wild Spaces Public Places, Road Repair, Fire Stations and Public Facilities, Economic Development, and Affordable Housing
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Adopt the proposed Ordinance (Attachment 1), subject to referendum approval, to levy a 1% Local Government Infrastructure Sales Surtax and repeal Ordinance 06-16 (the current 0.5% Local Government Infrastructure Sales Surtax
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Prior Board Motions:
March 8, 2022 (AI 22-0192): The Board scheduled the Ordinance adoption hearing for March 22, 2022 and authorized publication of notice of the adoption hearing in the Gainesville Sun.
March 2, 2022 (AI 22-0180): The Board clarified that Partnership Program should be $6M for WSPP Uses and another $6M for Other Infrastructure Uses.
March 1, 2022 (AI 22-0092): The Board provided preliminary policy guidance that the proceeds of the surtax should be: (1) distributed based on the default statutory formula; and (2) should be allocated on a 50%/50% basis between WSPP Uses and Other Infrastructure Uses. The Board also provided preliminary policy guidance that the County should create a Partnership Program to award additional funding to the municipalities from the County’s default formula share of the surtax proceeds. The Board also provided preliminarily policy guidance as to the scope of the ordinance, including the ordinance title and the proposed ballot language.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
No fiscal impact are anticipated solely from adoption of the proposed Ordinance, because the levy is subject to approval by referendum election to be held on November 8, 2022. However, if the 1% surtax is approved by referendum, then the levy is expected to general significant revenue for the County and its 9 municipalities (Attachment 6 - Estimated Surtax Revenue Projections).
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Strategic Guide:
Infrastructure
Background:
Subject to referendum approval, section 212.055(2), Florida Statutes, authorizes counties to levy by ordinance either a 0.5% or a 1.0% Local Government Infrastructure Sales Surtax. That statute provides that the proceeds of that surtax may be used to fund a variety of different types of projects including, but not limited to: acquisition of land for conservation or public recreation; land acquisition and capital expenditures for the planning, design and construction of public facilities such as fire stations; economic development projects that have a general public purpose of improving local economies; and the acquisition of land for affordable housing.
In 2008, the Board adopted an ordinance to levy a 0.5% local government infrastructure sales surtax for the purpose of purchasing land for conservation and parks (i.e., Wild Spaces Public Places or WSPP). The 2008 WSPP Surtax was approved by referendum. In 2016, the Board voted to extend the WSPP program by adopting Ordinance 06-16, which the current 0.5% WSPP surtax. The 2016 WSPP Surtax was also approved by referendum and is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2024.
Over the past year, the Board has discussed replacing the current 0.5% WSPP surtax with a 1.0% surtax that could be used to fund some additional types of projects authorized by s 212.055(2), Florida Statutes, in addition to WSPP projects. Over the past year, the Board discussed this matter at joint meetings with each of its nine municipalities and also retained the Trust for Public Lands to prepare a feasibility study report (Attachment 5).
At its March 1, 2022, Policy Meeting, the Board provided preliminary guidance to staff regarding the scope of the new surtax and directed staff to move forward with the next steps in the ordinance development and adoption process. Among the guidance provided by the Board was: (1) that proceeds of the new surtax should be used for WSPP, road repair and road safety, fire stations and other public facilities, economic development, and affordable housing; (2) that the proceeds should be allocated 50% to WSPP projects and 50% to all the other types of projects; and (3) the County should create a Partnership Program by which the County would jointly funds various projects with its municipalities. At its March 2, 2022 Joint Meeting with the City of Gainesville, the Board clarified that the Partnership Program should be funded from the County’s share of the surtax proceeds, and should be funded in the amount of $6M for WSPP projects and another $6M for the other types of authorized projects.
The proposed Ordinance (Attachment 1) reflects the preliminary policy guidance provided by the Board. Some of the studies the support the finding in the Whereas clauses are found as Attachments 7, 8 and 9. A copy of the Out of Reach 2021 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition was too large to attach to this agenda item, so a copy is available for review in the Commission office. In addition, the proposed Ordinance, if approved by referendum, would also repeal the 2016 WSPP Surtax (i.e., Ordinance 06-16) because Florida law provides that counties may have only one Local Government Infrastructure Sale Surtax in effect at a time. The referendum election will be held on November 8, 2022. If the new 1% Surtax is approved by referendum, the 2016 WSPP Surtax would terminate on December 31, 2022 and the new Surtax would commence on January 1, 2023. The repeal is not anticipated to have any negative effect on the County’s WSPP program because the repeal would only go into effect if the new 1% Surtax is approved by referendum, and the new 1% Surtax provides the same level of funding to WSPP projects as the 2016 WSPP Surtax.
In fact, the new Surtax is expected to extend the County’s WSPP project because the 2016 WSPP Surtax is currently set to expire on December 31, 2024, but the new 1% Surtax would continue to fund WSPP projects through December 31, 2032.
At its March 8, 2022 meeting, the Board directed staff to schedule an ordinance adoption hearing to be held on March 22, 2022, and also directed staff to publish notice of the adoption hearing in the Gainesville Sun. Notice was published in the Gainesville Sun on March 10, 2022 (Attachment 2 - Proof of Publication).