On Nov. 8, St. Johns County voters will either approve or reject a proposed one-cent sales surtax designed to fund countywide public infrastructure and improvements.
At a Monday, Oct. 10, public meeting hosted by the St. Johns County Civic Roundtable, County Commissioner Christian Whitehurst described what is at stake.
In February, the county released a list of 34 capital projects that would require the surtax to get the necessary funding. The projects include road improvements, alternative transportation facilities, infrastructure for law enforcement, emergency services, public parks and recreation facilities, libraries, storm water management and coastal erosion management.
Ponte Vedra area projects include: Mickler Road, roundabout to A1A (cost: $14 million); Palm Valley Road, Roscoe Road to the roundabout (cost: $15 million); Pine Island Road at U.S. 1, signalization (cost: $1.5 million), Nocatee Park (cost: $16 million) and Nocatee Library (cost: $12 million).
The total cost of all the projects on the list comes to $500 million.
Whitehurst said he has spoken with county staff to resolve the gap between what is needed and available funding.
“I’m finding we just don’t have the money to improve things that you are asking, demanding that I improve as your elected official,” he said. “Out of a sense of pure frustration, and just the fact that the numbers don’t work, I voted yes to put this on the ballot.”
People have advocated for cuts to the budget and elimination of waste, though they generally do not cite where they believe the cuts should be made.
Whitehurst said, as a business owner, “I know how to cut waste. I’ve looked at it. I can’t find the waste.”
He cited some reasons that the county is experiencing the funding deficit.
In response to the 2008 recession, the state mandated a rollback in property taxes by 1 mill, which cost the county $57.1 million. At the same time, the Board of County Commissioners added $25,000 to the Homestead Exemption, which removed $188 million from the county budgets between 2008 and 2021. Also, the recession cost the county another $79 million due to a devaluation of property.
Then, in 2011, the commission, hoping to spur growth, reduced impact fees on residential development by 25%. In 2018, the county raised impact fees to their statutory maximum, but these fees continue to be insufficient due to the effects of inflation. A residential development may agree to fund a road widening at the current cost, but if the project doesn’t happen for several years, that widening will cost significantly more and the developer’s portion of the funding is then insufficient.
Asked what happens if the referendum is rejected, Whitehurst said, “There is no Plan B. I’m not going to raise your property taxes, which would be the only other option.”
In fact the shortfall could simply grow more severe.
“This $500 million list of needs will inevitably turn into a billion dollar list of needs and will turn into a $1.5 billion — we’re talking a decade, two decades down the road,” Whitehurst said. “This list of needs will grow not only in the number of things that we have to improve but in the dollar amount as inflation does what inflation does.”
