The $21-million raised by the tax would go toward road improvements and a countywide traffic signal system.
By KELLY VIRELLA
Published January 10, 2004
The 6-cent gas tax increase that the Pinellas County Commission tabled in October got new legs at a meeting of the Pinellas Assembly Friday morning when a nine-person citizen task force recommended its adoption.
The assembly's Transportation Integration Task Force, whose members were appointed by elected officials, recommended that the County Commission immediately enact the proposed gas tax. The tax increase would raise $21-million per year to help pay for improvements to U.S. 19 and to Ulmerton Road and for a new countywide traffic signal system.
"To sustain economic development, Pinellas County must continue to grow and maintain a transportation infrastructure that supports growth," the task force said in a white paper presented to the assembly.
The white paper also recommends that the county consider adopting, through a referendum, a 1 percent sales tax to pay for a proposed monorail and bus system improvements that could cost $1.4-billion.
Transportation task force chairman Frank Murphy spoke in favor of the gas tax increase at a meeting of the Pinellas Assembly, a group of local officials and community activists that is trying to resolve some of the county's most contentious intergovernmental disputes.
The County Commission plans to evaluate the gas-tax increase and other recommendations from the transportation task force, as well as six other task forces that have focused on city-county disputes, by July.
The gas tax increase could come up at the commission's Jan. 27 work session, said Commissioner Karen Seel, who said she is undecided on the issue.
"We heard from the public and there was not a groundswell of support for the gas tax," she said. "I'm still trying to decide in my own mind: Is this the right time for the gas tax?"
County Commissioner Ken Welch said the task force's presentation has made him reconsider his previous reluctance to raise the gas tax by more than 2 cents. If the extra 4 cents were to pay for valuable projects that reduce congestion, Welch said he'd consider voting for it.
"I think you have to consider it," he said. "We just had a statistical survey that showed that traffic congestion is a No. 1 concern for Pinellas County residents."
The Pinellas Mayors Council also plans to evaluate the recommendations of the assembly's seven task forces by July.
The gas tax increase is not on the agenda for Mayors Council's next scheduled meeting on Feb. 4. But the task force's presentation made a strong impression on some.
"I do think the recommendation is a good one," Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst said. "If you want the kind of things we're talking about you have to pay for it."
The Mayors Council chose not to take a position on the gas tax increase when the County Commission was considering it last fall because the county hadn't given the cities enough information, said Mayor Frank DiDonato of Tarpon Springs, who is president of the Mayors Council.
The mayors wanted to know which projects the money would be used on. .
"It all goes into the pot," DiDonato said. "But quite honestly how would it be allocated?
The Mayors Council and County Commission plan to meet and discuss the recommendations in late April or early May, DiDonato said. The most contentious of the other recommendations at Friday's meeting came from the Annexation Policy/Guidelines task forces and from the Law Enforcement Structures and Finance task force.
The annexation group, chaired by Clearwater attorney Ed Armstrong, suggested restoring planning and annexation areas that predate a 2000 referendum.
The group also recommended giving the County Commission the same authority cities have to initiate changes to the planning area boundaries.
The Law Enforcement Structures and Finance Task Force, chaired by Terry England, recommended that the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office take over all forensic, property and evidence storage and disposal and fingerprint services in the county.
The law enforcement group also recommended that the Pinellas Police Standards Council advise the Pinellas Assembly as it consolidates such services.
That recommendation drew fire from Clearwater Chief of Police Sid Klein, who said it did not give the police council enough power.
"We want a say in our destiny," Klein said.
- Times staff writer Michael Sandler contributed to this report.
