By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 on Tuesday to put a quarter-cent sales-tax referendum on the November ballot.
In its 2007 budget, the legislature gave counties the option of a quarter-cent sales-tax increase or a 0.4 percent land-transfer tax to help compensate for money taken away from counties when the responsibility for paying for Medicaid was turned over to the state. Orange County voters narrowly rejected a proposed quarter-cent sales tax on the November 2010 ballot.
Commissioners Earl McKee and Valerie Foushee voted against the measure, saying they would prefer to wait until the May 2012 primary to stage the referendum.
“I think that there would be a perception that the rural residents … that predominantly voted against this in the past election, that an end run was being made around those residents,†McKee said. The referendum will be the sole item on the ballot in rural areas, with only municipal elections this fall.
Other commissioners said they hoped the county could begin collecting revenues from the tax as soon as possible.
“It seems to me that the need is considerable, and that each day, each month that we delay, we delay the opportunity to collect the money that we would use from this sales tax … to modify the property-tax burden that we have placed on the public,†board Vice Chair Steve Yuhasz said.
A number of residents spoke in opposition to the tax referendum, saying that voters had already decided on the matter and that residents could not afford a tax increase.
“This appears to be the most blatant effort to set aside and circumvent the voters of Orange County,†Bill Knight said. “We are asking you to reign in the tax and spending that’s been going on for years.â€
Both McKee and Foushee said they were also concerned about the additional costs of putting the referendum on the November ballot, which are estimated at $84,500, up from previous projections of $26,000.
If approved, the tax would cost residents an additional 25 cents on a $100 purchase, excluding groceries and medicine. County staff has estimated that the tax would raise $2.5 million annually.
The board will discuss how to dedicate the funds from the tax at a work session today (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at the Link Government Services Center in Hillsborough. Board members have indicated they would like to fund economic development and education with potential revenues.
In other action, the board voted 6-1 to adopt the Unified Development Ordinance, which combines and streamlines all county regulations related to land development into one document.