It’s been just over a year since revenues from the voter-approved half-cent sales tax for infrastructure improvements began flowing into Bay County and its municipalities’ coffers, fast-forwarding dozens of projects that would have otherwise taken years to fund and construct, if ever. “The Bay County Chamber of Commerce took the lead in providing voters with the information they needed to make an informed decision, and those efforts are already paying off,” Bay County Chamber President/CEO Carol Roberts said. “I jokingly say that every time I’m stuck in traffic on a road improvement project I get a smile on my face, knowing that we took a leadership role in making this happen.” Roberts noted the infrastructure needs of the cities and county would not have been met without intervention. Before the tax, only property owners were paying for improvements; now everyone participates. “The addition of the surtax ensures the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure is borne by everyone using it, including our visitors,” she said. “The improvements are good for growth,” Bay County Commissioner, Robert Carroll, said. It can be witnessed by passersby at projects under construction throughout the county.” “If we have good infrastructure, we can draw good businesses,” he said. “People notice when they’re considering moving a business to the area whether you’ve got good roads, good sewers – it makes growth easier to happen.” Carroll was Chairman of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as well as a candidate for the Bay County Commission during the November 2016 election when the sales tax referendum passed by a margin of more 12
BAY B I Z
|
APRIL - JUNE 2018
than 10 percent; it sunsets after 10 years if not reapproved by voters. A commission-appointed Citizens Oversight Committee is responsible for ensuring the tax dollars are spent appropriately, as does each municipality. The tax is for use exclusively in Bay County to repair local roads, increase neighborhood safety through pedestrian paths and sidewalks to schools, reduce neighborhood flooding, and reduce traffic congestion. The sales tax is estimated to generate roughly $21 million annually, to be split between the county and each of the seven cities by a formula based on population. For Unincorporated Bay County, that means an extra $12 million per year in surtax funds. Its passage also allowed the county to discontinue an annual $3 million transfer from the General Fund to pay for bare-bones road improvements and inversely cut property taxes by .25 mills this fiscal year. But the benefit reaches well beyond an additional $12 million for the county, as the new revenue stream makes available many millions in extra grant funding that requires a local match – a luxury the county never had before the surtax. Since collections began through the first quarter of FY2018, Bay County has collected just over $12 million in surtax funds and another approximately $14 million in matching funds. “For the first time in my career, we’re able to match grants that in the past the county never had the revenue to match,” Bay County Public Works Director Keith Bryant said. An example, Bryant said, is needed partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to replace a one-lane wooden bridge at Scotts Ferry Road with a concrete structure projected to last 50 years or more. The coun-
