The 842-million-dollar question: Renew the penny sales tax, or not?

Correction: a previous version of this article included a quote that incorrectly characterized how much a mill of property tax amounts to. One mill is equal to one dollar of tax per thousand dollars of taxable property value.

Come November, Seminole County voters are expected to be asked a simple question: Will you approve an additional one penny sales tax on goods bought in Seminole County to provide money for infrastructure?

If not, local governments will find themselves without a reliable source of funding for things like roads, bridges and schools. Already, the Seminole County Commission is hearing a stark reality: If the penny sales tax doesn’t get approved, the options are to cut services or raise taxes elsewhere.

“If the penny sales tax was not in place, and all priorities continued to be the same as they are today, you would essentially have to raise the millage in this county … by one mill,” Seminole County Property Appraiser David Johnson told county commissioners on March 26.

Seminole County, Seminole County Public Schools and the seven cities in the county are currently cobbling together lists of projects to be included in the next round of funding, which remains a hypothetical. The Seminole County Commission has not yet voted to put the penny sales tax on the November ballot. 

The Seminole County Commission is scheduled to consider the ordinance at its July 23 meeting, according to Seminole County spokesperson Chris Patton. 

Three times in the last three decades voters have said yes to the One Cent Sales Tax for Infrastructure – generating more than $1.8 billion for Seminole County roads, bridges, parks and schools. The third generation of the tax, passed in May of 2014, will have generated $841.8 million overall by the end of 2024. That money gets split: Most, 55%, goes to Seminole County. Then Seminole County Public Schools get 25 percent, and the remaining 20 percent is split between the seven cities in Seminole County. 

Proponents say a portion of the tax is paid by people who don’t live in the county, giving an influx of tax revenue for residents. Additionally, the money is often used as the matching portion to draw millions in federal matching grants. 

“What this additional penny has afforded this county is being able to get millions and tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money because we’re able to match those funds to bring that money from D.C. down here to do projects we otherwise could not,” said Seminole County Chairman Jay Zembower. “The reality is that penny is leveraged much greater than a penny.”

But the penny sales tax isn’t without controversy. Seminole County Clerk of the Court Grant Maloy audited Winter Springs’ use of the penny sales tax. Over the years, Winter Springs had changed the prioritization and used the penny sales tax money on items like police vehicles and fleet vehicles – items not included in Winter Springs’ original project list with the county (although police and emergency vehicles are included in Seminole County’s project list). 

Maloy found that city officials followed the letter of the law – but not the intent. Those changes were done in the consent agenda at public meetings without much discussion.

“Although we agree that the city is in compliance with the requirement of having a public meeting, and the city is in compliance with Florida Statutes, the City Commission, in our opinion, did not follow the intent of the referendum,” Maloy wrote in the audit, which you can read here.

Winter Springs officials have called Maloy’s audit “unprofessional.”

Another final wrinkle: Convincing voters to approve the sales tax now will be harder than in 2014. A 2023 law forbids local governments from spending money on voter education. That means if the Seminole County Commission does decide to ask voters to renew the tax, government funds can’t be used to send out a mailer explaining what the amendment would do or the projects that have been done with the sales tax. 

“The way I read the law, I think it would not be legal for the governments to send out a mailer that said, ‘If voters do not approve renewing the local-option sales tax, the City of Oviedo would have to raise taxes by 16% to maintain the same level of service,’” Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek wrote to Oviedo Community News. “It’s true, but it’s also persuasive. I think the government also can’t say that in social media. I think I can say it, because I’m a politician and not a paid full-time traditional employee and my social media is not subsidized in any way by a person who is paid to operate it.”

See below for a further breakdown of penny sales tax projects by city. 

Winter Springs mayor wants Lake Jesup events center off the list

The Winter Springs City Commission got a first look at a list of projects in December for the next round of penny sales tax projects, if the funding is approved. 

That includes $37.9 million in new city projects over the next decade: $6.9 million for road resurfacing, $12.5 million for bridge and drainage improvement projects, $2.6 million for utilities, $2.2 million for police and $13.6 million for parks. 

“Keep in mind that this is just a preliminary list of projects that the City would potentially look at funding with the 4th generation sales tax should it pass,” Winter Springs spokesperson Matthew Reeser wrote. “This list could change depending on shifting priorities and specific needs by the city. Any changes would need to go before the Commission to allow for public input, and we would notify the County of any changes to this list.”

That $13.6 million for parks stood out to Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann. It includes $7 million for an events center at Central Winds Park on Lake Jesup.

McCann said that other cities have an event space for things like weddings. But the projects need to be limited to real needs, he said, and not a “wish list.” 

“They put something on there I frankly want removed,” McCann said. “I would say [with] the timing and the heat and attention Winter Springs gets, we will be changing that for sure.” 

Winter Springs originally asked for $19 million in projects for the 2014 penny sales tax, and eventually modified their list. You can see the complete list of penny sales tax projects in Winter Springs here. Completed projects include the purchase of two land parcels to expand Central Winds Park, $2 million for utilities projects and $2.8 million for 16 new police vehicles and utilities equipment for the utilities department. 

Without a penny sales tax, Oviedo might have to look at ‘mobility fee’ to pay for roads

The Oviedo City Council held a workshop on March 27 about the list of projects it could afford with a renewed penny sales tax. 

Oviedo is projecting that, if it’s approved, that tax would generate $30 to $35 million for the city over the next decade. If it’s not approved, though, the city will have to look elsewhere for the money.

“We’ve still got some reserve third-generation sales tax left,” said Oviedo Public Works Director Bobby Wyatt. “It wouldn’t hit us right away. But we’d have to figure out a new strategy in two or three years. From a capital standpoint of the roadway items, we’d have to look toward a mobility fee or some other item to help pay for those. Because our gas tax just won’t be enough.”

Oviedo is having similar discussions as Winter Springs when it comes to narrowing down the projects on the list. When city staff mentioned adding recreation projects onto the list, City Council Member Keith Britton referenced Winter Springs.

“That won’t get us into trouble like the city up the street got into?” Britton asked.

“No, no,” City Manager Bryan Cobb replied. “The interlocal agreement ties everything to Florida statute. And one of the things that we did when we were compiling the list was we put it to that test: Does it meet the Florida statute? And everything we’ve recommended to you we can say, in our opinion, passes that test.”

Britton said it’s easier to sell the sales tax to voters if it’s to fix our roads rather than to build buildings. 

“Or it’s to have a circulator, a golf cart circulator downtown,” Mayor Megan Sladek added. “I think that’s a really challenging thing to leave on this list even in these early stages because there is not a guarantee there is widespread popularity for this.”

You can see Oviedo’s tentative list here. Oviedo has been actively working on identifying new projects since at least 2021.

 Seminole County Public Schools expects to finish nearly $159M in projects 

Seminole County Public Schools is working to finalize a list of proposed projects if another penny sales tax is approved. 

“SCPS is currently conducting a facilities evaluation to determine needs and priority ranking should the voters renew the penny,” Seminole County Public Schools Chair Abby Sanchez wrote in an email. 

During the last decade, SCPS has completed or started $158.8 million in school projects. Many of those projects were in the Sanford area, including updates to several schools where the campus was originally built back in 1955. 

SCPS’s project lists include $10.9 million to add classrooms at Lawton Elementary School in Oviedo. That project is ongoing. 

“SCPS is a careful steward of public funding,” Sanchez wrote. “Strict evaluation for the necessary budget costs are completed prior to beginning a project, and performance is tracked throughout the project.”