That didn’t take long.
On March 1 a coalition of Polk County environmentalists presented the Polk County Commission with a request to place a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot for a property tax referendum to renew funding for buying more environmental land before the bulldozers advance and make the issue academic.
This would renew a referendum Polk voters approved in 1994.
It is worth noting that after the voter-approved property tax levy supposedly expired in 2015 commissioners decided to continue to levy it, but to divert most the money to road projects to benefit the development community.
The Polk environmental community, who wanted to avoid the 2015 switcheroo this time around, got the answer to their March 1 appeal this week.
Commissioners reportedly said during a Friday work session–held in a conference room away from most real public access–that they might consider a property tax referendum, but not for environmental protection. Instead, it would be the fourth attempt since 1992 to persuade the public to tax itself to pay for a long list of road projects to advance the dreams of the development community.
The previous ballot proposals in 1992, 1994 and 2014 for sales tax increases went down in flames.
County Commissioner George Lindsey, a Lakeland developer, broached the issue of another sales tax referendum at annual County Commission retreats in 2021 and 2022 to pay for projected road “needs” outlined by county staffers.
His colleagues rejected the idea.
Now—at least tentatively since there has been no formal vote—at least three of the commissioners—Lindsey, Neil Combee (he opposed the approval of the 1994 referendum) and Martha Santiago—are reportedly on board to advance Lindsey’s proposal for another property tax increase instead.
The last major property tax increase commissioners approved was the result of a cleverly orchestrated series of meetings sponsored by a business-sponsored front group called Polk Vision to provide the justification to increase property taxes to make up for a transportation backlog primarily caused by the commission’s decision to approve new developments hand over fist and to not approve impact fees to make the people who benefitted from new developments to pay for the financial impacts instead of sticking taxpayers with the bill.
The latest proposal appears to be another attack on the taxpayers.
To give you some idea of what these “needs” are, let’s list some of them.
One is a plan for a new truck route through the Green Swamp Area of State Concern—including a portion of Colt Creek State Park—to accommodate freight traffic from the logistics centers under construction around the intersection of Interstate 4 and U.S. 27 and other projects farther away. It links into another state road proposal to widen a U.S. 98 on the other side of the Green Swamp for more freight traffic.
Never heard of the Green Swamp? It’s a vital area to protect our water supplies and a key corridor for statewide wildlife movement through a series of natural corridors that the “improved” road system would affect.
Another would extend what was once a local road called Power Line Road east of Haines City to open up more land in eastern Polk to residential and industrial development at your expense. It’s unlikely it would improve your daily commute.
The list goes on.
As Yogi Berra once observed, it ain’t over until it’s over.
The public will have a chance to weigh in on this proposal at the regular County Commission meeting on Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m.
The environmental community will be there. Will you join us if you can?
If not, contact your commissioners and tell them where you stand.