Clay commission imposes five cent per gallon gas tax
Clay County has imposed a local option fuel tax to help pay for road improvements. (File)
Clay County Commissioner Gavin Rollins (File/Provided)
Clay County Commission Chairman Wayne Bolla (File/Provided)
GREEN COVE SPRINGS | Motorists will pay a nickel more for each gallon of gas bought in Clay County effective Jan. 1, 2018, as the result of the County Commission imposing a 5-cent Local Option Fuel Tax to help pay for needed road construction, maintenance and transportation facilities.
The commission, voting 4-1 with Commissioner Gavin Rollins dissenting, March twenty eight approved an ordinance imposing the fuel tax. It will extend for twenty four years and expire Dec. 31, 2041.
«I think it`s a fair tax. Non-residents will be paying some of that tax very much like they do with our 1-cent sales tax that was extended this last election by the voters,» Commissioner Mike Cella said. «So, consequently I think it`s something we`ve got to do to get embarked. We`ve got to do it now so we can be ready for the extra folks that will be moving into our county. So, I`m in favor of it.»
Rollins said he understands the county has a lot of transportation infrastructure needs. He noted the commission put $Five million toward road improvements this year.
«At this point, I can`t support an extra gas tax,» said Rollins, adding the commission should embark by focusing on the ist of projects and plans it previously laid out that resulted in voters supporting the sales tax extension.
Revenue generated by the fuel tax must be used for projects including road construction paving and resurfacing.
«By statute, every nickel that`s collected in this tax has to go to building road capacity. So, there`s no futzing around with this one. It`s got to go for what it`s earmarked for,» commission Chairman Wayne Bolla said. «And we`ve got over two hundred fifty miles of mess roads, not all of which will get paved. But certainly there is a lot more need here than there is money.»
County Manager Stephanie Kopelousos said Clay`s Transportation Needs Project List, which is part of a latest North Florida Transportation Planning Organization examine, states a half-billion dollars worth of projects will be necessary through 2025.
«A lot of these needs that are on this list are needs that exist today, widening of County Road 218, widening of County Road 220. Some of these projects are ones that we`ve been talking about long before I came back to Clay County but are needed,» Kopelousos told the commission.
Each penny of the fuel tax would generate about $600,000 depending upon the county`s interlocal agreements with the municipalities of Green Cove Springs, Orange Park, Keystone Heights and Penney Farms, county officials previously have estimated.
The commission vote came at the conclusion of a public hearing in which four people – including municipal and economic development leaders – spoke in support of the gas tax. One resident opposed it telling the county shouldn`t impose a fresh tax on people.
Bill Garrison, president of Clay Florida Economic Development Corporation, said the organization`s Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the county levying a five cents per gallon gas tax «to help pay for the transportation projects that will expand the capacity of our road network.»
Garrison cited several reasons for the organization`s support of the fresh tax.
«There is now and there will proceed to be a need for extra transportation capacity to support growth, continued population growth of Clay County,» said Garrison, noting Clay is growing at a rate comparable to South and Central Florida. Clay is growing swifter, not slower, and the construction of the Very first Coast Expressway through the county will require enlargened transportation capacity and related access, he said.
Garrison also said the Economic Development Corporation also supports the gas tax because it creates a fresh revenue stream for the county without putting the cargo on property owners.
County leaders have said traditional funding of transportation needs and the existing state and local option fuel taxes are insufficient to address the continuing transportation needs in Clay. In 2014, county voters approved a referendum stating the county should diversify its revenue sources. Since then, the commission has been searching for funding alternatives.
The gas tax won`t meet all the county`s needs, but it`s best alternative for now, its supporters said.
«This is money we don`t have to raise from ad valorem taxes on the backs of the property owners in Clay County,» Bolla said. «It`s a user tax. People who use it will pay for it. I personally like that. I don`t like raising taxes period, but there`s no where else to get the money for these roads right now.»