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Highlands Today

Tax to Buy Conservation Land Likely To Go On November Ballot

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: June 17, 2008

SEBRING — The so-called, and proud of it, "tree huggers" went for a win Tuesday at the Highlands County Board of Commissioners but came away with a tie, and the day for a decision on their proposed tax issue was pushed back for at least three weeks.

The commissioners appeared close to voting to endorse the concept of putting a two/tenths of one mill, 20-year bond issue on the November ballot to raise more than $1 million a year to buy and preserve conservation lands before they are paved over.

Commissioners were asked to endorse the idea and then, in the coming weeks, get all the details and research nailed down so that they could make a final decision about putting the issue on the ballot in July.

Instead, at the urging of Commissioner Barbara Stewart, the commissioners voted 4-1 to instruct staff and backers of the conservation-land-buy tax to come back at the July 8 meeting with more information.

If the bond issue was passed by voters, Highlands County would raise more than $20 million over the next 20 years and that would be matched, at least dollar-for-dollar and possibly more, by the state's Florida Forever conservation fund.

Mike Waldron, chairman of the county's Natural Resources Advisory Committee, urged the commissioners to commit to putting the issue on the ballot. That idea was endorsed unanimously by NRAC.

"We want to allow the citizens of Highlands County to decide on this," he told the commissioners. After the meeting, he told Highlands Today, "I'm not saying if I would vote for this bond issue or if I would vote against it. But I think it should go to the voters."

Commissioner Andy Jackson took that stand the most forcefully when commissioners discussed the issue.

"The overwhelming issue," Jackson said, "is that this is a major policy issue and it should be decided by the public (in the voting booths)."

Jackson was in favor of voting to approve the concept of the conservation bond issue on Tuesday and then fine tuning the details before the commission made a final yes-or-no decision in July on whether to submit it to the voters.

Instead, the commissioners only showed that they're interested in hearing about it and want every detail about it, including the ballot language, pinned down in three weeks.

Commissioner Edgar Stokes was the only one of the five commissioners who flatly came out against the bond issue, even though he applauded the goal of preserving the lands best suited for conservation.

"I know there are lands that should be saved and don't need to go in to development," Stokes said. But, he added, "this is a time when the taxpayers need a break."

Stokes said that with the economy in recession and people struggling to cover rising prices for essentials, "I'm very leery about putting any more taxes on the taxpayer at this time."

Stokes said people who can afford to pay this property tax may pass it, and then all the people who can't afford to pay it will be forced to pay it.

People throughout Florida as well as Highlands County are calling for continued reductions in taxes, Stokes said, and so now is not the time "to be putting a tax on the taxpayers for 20 years when they need a break."

Tricia Martin, director of the Lake Wales Ridge Program for The Nature Conservancy, said the non-profit organization would campaign for the bond issue here. Over the last 20 years, she said, the group has helped about 20 Florida counties pass similar bond issues t o preserve the best environmental land.

Throughout the discussion on this proposed bond issue, nobody argued with Commissioner Guy Maxcy when he said that if this property tax does go before the voters in these tough economic times, passing the bond issue "is going to be an uphill battle. It's going to be tough."

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