In all of Florida, only one county has never had a voter-supported local option sales tax[1].
Citrus County Commissioners are hoping that it ends next year.
Buoyed by a survey that shows citizens would consider supporting a referendum, Commissioners by consensus agreed to place a local option sales tax vote on the November 2026 ballot.
The 1-cent sales tax, estimated to bring about $25 million annually, would sunset in four years and be used for road resurfacing. Commissioners, led by Jeff Kinnard, said that would give the Board time to build trust with voters that the money is being spent where they wanted.
Commissioners will consider formal ballot language in November. They said the funds would be used for “pavement management,” which covers all categories of road resurfacing.
“My hope is that we don’t overthink it,” Kinnard said. “Keep it simple. Get it on the ballot.”
The sales tax talk has bounced around Citrus County politics for years. Still, it’s gotten more intense as the County grapples with residential and commercial growth that accompanied the Suncoast Parkway opening in 2022.
Every county but Citrus and Collier has a voter-approved local option 1-cent sales tax. Collier County[2] had one in place but sunset it after reaching the financial goal.
Citrus County, led by the blog Just Wright Citrus[3], began having serious conversations about the sales tax earlier this year.
In late spring, the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce offered to establish a Steering Committee[4] to ask citizens if they would support a referendum, and if so, how the county should spend the money. The Committee held town hall meetings[5] and conducted an online survey. About 700 people participated in the survey, which showed 57% support[6] for a potential referendum.
As for uses, participants chose road repaving nearly twice as much as other suggested categories. The survey also indicated the tax sunset in 10 years.
The Committee recommended using 75% of the money for resurfacing and 25% for other road improvements.
Kinnard, though, suggested it be limited to road resurfacing for four years, giving time for the county to establish trust with citizens that they’ll spend the money as promised. The county could then add projects or categories, asking voters to extend the tax.
Commissioner Janet Barek and Chair Rebecca Bays backed that idea. Commissioner Diana Finegan said she doesn’t think the tax will pass, but would support placing it on the ballot.
“Who’s not voting for this? People on private roads, who had their roads paved,” Finegan said.
Commissioner Holly Davis, though, was rebuffed in her attempt to take the conversation in a different direction. Davis wanted to contract with the North Florida Land Trust[7] to conduct detailed market surveys to shape a referendum that would have broad support.
Other Commissioners noted that they agreed beforehand to follow the Chamber’s process, and that the referendum would be citizen-led.
“We said this wasn’t coming from the Commissioners,” Finegan said. “If we’re still making it up on the fly, I’ll be a no.”
Finegan supported the consensus to move forward, as did all Commissioners except Davis.
References
- ^ local option sales tax (floridarevenue.com)
- ^ Collier County (www.collierclerk.com)
- ^ Just Wright Citrus (www.justwrightcitrus.com)
- ^ Steering Committee (www.citruscountychamber.com)
- ^ town hall meetings (www.justwrightcitrus.com)
- ^ 57% support (apps.citrusclerk.org)
- ^ North Florida Land Trust (nflt.org)