First year of sales tax revenue collects $17 million for county projects

The I’s have been dotted and the T’s crossed on how Manatee County planned to spend the revenue of its half-cent infrastructure sales tax dollars.

In their first regular meeting of 2018, with Commissioner Priscilla Whisenant Trace at the helm, the board of county commissioners heard the final report of how their capital improvement project wishlist fit with how they planned to spend the newly approved infrastructure sales tax.

In 2016, voters supported the county’s referendum by 57 percent, which raised sales tax in Manatee County from 6.5 percent to 7 percent over a 15-year period. The funds, which are detailed in three categories, collected more than $17 million from January to September last year.

The Infrastructure Sales Tax Oversight Committee reviewed and approved the county’s plan to spend about 71 percent of the revenue on transportation, 15 percent on public safety and 14 percent on parks and community facilities.

“Everything was in compliance,” said committee chairman Norm Luppino. “The books weren’t cooked.”

Over the 15-year period, nearly $337 million worth of projects will be funded. Projects can be added, changed or removed from the list, but it would require a public hearing, said county financial management director Jan Brewer.

She added that from October 2017 through September 2018, the county expects to collect $25.1 million in infrastructure sales tax revenue.

Some of the larger projects to be funded in the 2018 fiscal year address major upgrades to the aging county jail, replacing lifeguard towers and creating a dog park at Braden River Park.

Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said it was imperative the county was transparent with the taxpayers on what projects would be funded.

“Some of us were pleasantly surprised when it passed,” Commissioner Betsy Benac said. “It’s important to pay attention to how the money is spent.”

Commissioners also unanimously approved loaning more than $5 million from the transportation fund to the parks fund to help pay for 11 parks projects, including replacing the John H. Marble Park gymnasium, repairing the boardwalks at three preserves and construction of the Lincoln Park pool.

Also during Tuesday’s regular meeting, commissioners:

▪ Discussed holding a workshop on comparing jobs in the private sector to those in the government, as an estimated 500 employees will retire within three years.

▪ Unanimously approved a resolution to vacate a section of right-of-way and road easement at the northwest corner of Lorraine Road and State Road 70 East.

▪ Heard a report from Dr. Richard Conard on the results of the 2017 Remote Area Medical, or RAM, event. The third annual event saw 947 patients; 415 pairs of prescription glasses were handed out; 685 dental procedures were performed; and 687 health care professionals and volunteers participated.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "First year of sales tax revenue collects $17 million for county projects."