- April 25, 2024
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Though the half-cent sales tax referendum failed in May, that chapter is yet to be closed.
At the Roundtable of Volusia County Elected Officials meeting on Monday, Oct. 14, the group briefly discussed reviving a sales tax initiative for the next election, only this time, it could be a full one cent sales tax.
Local radio host and former Volusia County Council Chairman Big John said during the public participation portion of the meeting that the only solution to the transportation issues in the county would be a tax. He pointed out the loss of money from the failed half-cent sales tax referendum — which cost almost a half-million dollars to put on the ballot alone — and said a sales tax will only be successful if the elected officials involve the public and are transparent.
And move fast.
“Apgar, if you wait too long, it’ll be too late," said John to DeLand Mayor Bob Apgar, who chairs the roundtable.
This isn't the first time John has spoken about the sales tax to the roundtable. He mentioned it at the September meeting.
Apgar said his words hadn't been forgotten, and that the roundtable was planning to speak about a possible sales tax at the next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 18.
There was some skepticism from some elected officials. Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington was the most vocal at the meeting.
He urged other elected officials to check in with their councils and see what level of support there was for another sales tax. For Ormond Beach, the support may not be there.
Partington questioned why officials would discuss a one-cent sales tax when the half-cent failed. Ormond was on board with the last initiative when the dollars were slated for transportation projects.
“Then it got changed to basically ‘wide open fun,'" Partington said. "You could use them for anything possible, and we hung on—a little begrudgingly—but we hung on, hoping that it would work. And it didn’t.”
Partington said he feels the will of the Ormond commission is that if a city needs something, the commission or council should raise the taxes to pay for it. He added, however, that he would be interested to hear the reasoning behind a sales tax referendum revival.
“I’m going into it dubious and with lessons learned," Partington said.
