A promising new revenue source for financially constrained Manatee County
In deliberating the options for new revenue streams for the cash-strapped, property-tax dependent county, the Citizens Financial Structure Advisory Board settled on recommending a half-cent increase in the sales tax during a meeting 10 days ago. Manatee County must address an imminent deficit in two years when the general cut of the budget stabilization reserve fund is forecast to be depleted.
While the advisory board reviewed six revenue alternatives, the half-cent infrastructure sales tax -- which requires a referendum, likely in November -- is most appealing.
On Tuesday, the panel will present a plan outlining the distribution of the new revenue, expected to reach some $22.8 million annually. The board must convince county commissioners this is the best approach to solving the pending budget crunch -- and a more favorable option over raising property taxes. Then voters must be persuaded with a strong campaign.
Eighteen Florida counties benefit from similar taxes, including Sarasota, Pinellas and Hillsborough. Several more are considering asking voters to adopt some kind of sales tax increase to fund infrastructure and transportation projects.
Those include Hillsborough, which is considering a half-cent to fund transportation needs. Last week, the county's business community endorsed the sales tax.
One of the three county administrators brought here to address the advisory board in March, Charlotte County's Ray Sandrock, cited the $369 million raised since 1994 by a full penny sales tax increase as the county's "saving grace."
Other options fall short
Of the other alternatives the advisory board considered to diversify the county's revenue steams, franchise fees garnered the most attention.
The assessment, charged as a public service tax by all the county's cities, would generate almost $16 million annually with a levy of 5.9 percent.
This fee would only be paid by residents living in the unincorporated portion of the county, funding both operational and capital expenses.
The beauty of a sales tax increase can be found in several major points. The most attractive is the fact that county and city residents would not bear the full burden.
Visitors, whether tourists, shoppers or casual day trippers, would contribute mightily -- unlike a franchise fee.
Out of the estimated $22.8 million in new sales tax revenue with the half penny, those visitors would supply around $7.2 million. (Manatee County lured 3 million visitors in 2015, injecting $1.1 billion into the economy and contributing $47 million in sales taxes, the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau reported in March.)
Plus, the cities would receive shares of that new revenue. And this would be a sustainable solution, as Charlotte County has experienced.
The increase would not put Manatee County at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring counties, equaling their 7 percent total.
Manatee's quality of life would certainly improve with upgrades in transportation, public safety and parks/community amenities.
Path toward the future
One new asset could put the county on a new path, literally. Currently, Manatee is the bane of bicyclists, runners and walkers longing for safe, dedicated trails for their recreational pursuits.
The county's master plan for trails, one of those dusty binders languishing on a shelf somewhere since 2002, holds some great ideas for creating community assets that will improve our quality of life and our economic growth.
An infrastructure sales tax would surely propel those plans forward. Neighboring counties to the north and south enjoy highly popular interconnected trail systems, constructed with money from sales taxes. Both the Sarasota and Hillsborough trail systems dead-end at Manatee.
A cross county trail system would help address the county's mobility issues by putting people on bicycles instead of cars, thus easing congestion.
Trails also boost redevelopment and attract new residents. The millennial generation, a coveted population for economic development, is geared toward alternative transportation modes and disdains automobiles.
This is but one illustration of the potential advantages of an infrastructure sales tax. County commissioners would be wise to ask voters to approve this opportune revenue source.
This story was originally published April 24, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "A promising new revenue source for financially constrained Manatee County ."