Seminole County adds penny sales tax to November ballot

It’s what could be a billion-dollar question: Will Seminole County renew their penny sales tax for another decade?

It will ultimately be up to voters to decide this November on if they want to extend it another 10 years-- to 2034. Commissioners voted to add it to the ballot Tuesday.

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Commissioners said paying one penny on the dollar can save property owners on taxes and can avoid the county cutting a list of services and projects.

“Government only has so many dollars to do certain work with, and so if it’s not approved, then we’ve got some tough decisions,” said Chairman Jay Zembower.

“We either reduce services or we increase property taxes. We could increase other taxes and fees as well. Nobody really wants to do that,” said Commissioner Amy Lockhart, when asked about the county’s options if the ballot measure doesn’t pass.

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For more than 30 years, Seminole County has relied on the millions its penny sales tax rakes in each year. This money has been used for a slew of projects-- from roads to parks. The County has also distributed the revenue to the school district and the seven cities in the county.

Since 1991, the tax has generated more than $1.8 billion countywide.

In the last couple years, the revenue has averaged about $100 million a year.

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When you drive through Seminole County, you can see that revenue at work. 15 million went into widening State Road 46 from two lanes to four. More than $40 million went into creating the new Sanford Riverwalk nearly five miles of pedestrian trails around Lake Monroe.

“There probably is not a piece of pavement that you drive on, or a piece of sidewalk that you walk on that has not been laid because of the penny sales tax in Seminole County. Our parks, recreation opportunities, all of those things are attributable, at least in part because of the penny sales tax,” Lockhart said.

Seminole County, the school district, along with the seven cities in the county listed off 25 pages worth of projects it hopes to accomplish. Projects include flood mitigation, school improvements, and traffic solutions. Commissioners say many of these projects won’t be possible without the sales tax being renewed.

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Commissioners said if you continue paying one penny on the dollar when you buy, it will save homeowners hundreds in potentially more property taxes.

To bring in that same amount of revenue as the sales tax, Seminole County would have to bump property taxes by about 1.2 mills-- costing the average household $445 dollars a year. Compare that to the roughly $131 a year Seminole County says an average household paid in sales tax this year.

“That’s a pretty hefty price, compared to this being paid for almost 30% by people that don’t even live here,” Zembower said. “So, it’s like in a 30% discount on the revenue.”

According to a Florida Department of Revenue assessment, an estimated 20 to 30 percent of that sales tax revenue comes from people that don’t even live in Seminole County.

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