Transportation tax proposal dialogue opens

ALACHUA – The citizens of York County in South Carolina came together in the late 1990s to address problems with their county’s public roads. They made a list of the road improvement projects they wanted to see finished, and they got their county commission to put them on the ballot.

The Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce is looking at York County as a case study on how to improve the roads and other modes of transportation in Alachua County. During a Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3 in Alachua, members of the public and the local business community came to discuss a proposal on how on how to work through the citizenry to determine transportation project priorities that could be funded through a one-cent sales tax.

The idea is for a bottom-up movement in which the citizens of Alachua County make a list ranking the priority of each transportation project, said Kamal Latham, vice president of public policy for the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce. Projects would be scheduled in order, and completion of one project would be assured before moving on to the next priority.

The proposal is in the dialogue stage, so elements are fluid and not set in stone.

The residents of the county could bring it forward through a petition, or have the county commission put it on the ballot.

The projects would be paid for with a one cent sales tax that the Chamber of Commerce recommends last no longer than eight years.  

“They used a bottom-up process where they worked through the citizens,” Latham said of York County. "Under this collaborative approach, their various municipalities worked together to address an inadequate transportation system, which helped unify many communities," Latham said in an interview with Alachua County Today.

Poor roads have a negative impact on the economy, he said.

“You can’t connect the workforce to the workplace very conveniently.”

The plan would help out not only the cities, but the communities all around the county, Latham said, building a network of better roads. In York County, the model helped rural areas as well as urban ones.

“It wasn’t all downtown city issues,” he said.

Rather than the funds being divided up among the cities, they could be used in a common fund to renovate roads or complete other projects throughout the county as chosen by voters.

Distrust of the county commission was a prevalent theme among the citizens who spoke at the meeting. Several raised concerns about how the people of Alachua County would make sure the money would be used for its intended purpose.

Ted Wilson, of the Alachua Chamber of Commerce, asked how the county commission could be held accountable to the list of priorities rather than taking money for its pet projects.

Latham said there would have to be a dialogue about issues just like that.

Also from the Alachua Chamber of Commerce, David Pope said the county has the worst of both worlds. “We’re taxed too much and we have terrible roads,” he said.

Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper supported the idea of a ground-up movement to get the county in line with what the residents want.

“It’s time for us to say no,” he said. “This is what we want to see happen here.”

The debate over the plan to use York County’s model for transportation projects will play out over the next several months, Latham said.

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