Tax Issue To Buy Conservation Land Headed To November Ballot

SEBRING -Voters in Highlands County are almost certain to see a 2/10ths of one mill bond issue on the November ballot to raise funds for the purchase of conservation lands.

If voters approve the measure, the $1 million which the bond issue would raise per year would draw matching dollars from the state's Florida Forever program to buy important conversation land before it can be developed.

Highlands County Commissioner Don Bates said he will vote to put the proposed bond issue to bring in matching state conservation funds on the ballot in November. Bates also said it appears very likely that there will be enough votes on the five-member county commission to submit the issue to the voters.

The state's Florida Forever program will award grants totaling $300 million from now through 2020 to local governments for the purchase of environmentally important and attractive lands for conservation.

These state grants will be given only to local governments that have a bond issue passed by voters to provide local matching dollars to go along with the state funding.

Elton Gissendanner, a semi-retired veterinarian who lives in Lake Placid, is pushing the idea of the local tax issue to bring in state money and to buy the best environmental land in this county before it is developed.

By passing the bond issue, voters would provide about $10 million in local money over the next 10 years. Gissendanner said that $10 million, if managed smartly, could be "leveraged" into between $20 million to $40 million by obtaining state Florida Forever grants.

Gissendanner, who represents the Sierra Club locally, said Polk, Hillsborough and other nearby counties have passed 2/10ths of a mill conservation bond issues to preserve conservation land before it is paved over.

The Highlands County Natural Resources Advisory Committee has voted unanimously to recommend that the county commissioners put the conservation tax issue on the November general election ballot.
As far as the Sierra Club goes, Gissendanner said, "We ask now only that the board of county commissioners put it on the ballot and let the people decide."

Gissendanner said officials of The Nature Conservancy have indicated they would provide help in the campaign for this tax issue and also in writing grant applications to obtain matching Florida Forever funding.

One backer of this tax issue is Jack Richie, the chairman of the Highlands County Homeowners Association. He also chairs the Citizens Advisory Committee on Impact Fees. Richie said he will not only vote for but also campaign for this conservation bond issue.

At the June 9 meeting of the homeowners association, Richie called for homeowners groups in general and residents in particular to enthusiastically back this proposed tax.

"We need your help - actually, you need your help on this - to pass this bond issue to do beautiful things in Highlands County," Richie said.

According to Janice McCarthy, a planner in the county planning department, bond issues to preserve conservation lands are have a high rate of passage by voters in most areas of the country.

In a report to NRAC about this proposed bond issues, McCarthy said research shows that three out of four of such conservation-land tax issues are approved by voters nationwide.

In Florida, McCarthy said in her report, 80 percent of bond issues to acquire conservation lands are approved by voters.