WATCHDOG GROUP ARGUES GAS TAX WILL HURT ECONOMY

STUART – A government watchdog group wants the county to put the brakes on plans to increase the gas tax, saying the user fee for road maintenance and construction projects will hurt the local economy.

“The 4-cent-a-gallon (tax) disproportionately will hurt working persons and small businesses,” said Ray Adams of Citizens for a Sound Economy. “Those plumbers and electricians who come to your home may have to charge more.”

Citizens for a Sound Economy, which fought the aborted county sale tax increase last year, intends to begin a petition drive today in an attempt to convince commissioners to seek another means of raising money to cover the cost of road construction and maintenance in the next five years.

“We don’t have a great deal of time, so we’re going to get as many as we can, ” Adams said. “We’re going to go all out on it.”

County commissioners have scheduled a March 19 public hearing on the proposed tax increase, which would put the county tax at the state limit of 12 cents a gallon.

County officials say the fee increase is necessary to close a $2.6 million gap between the work planned for the next five years and revenue forecasts from the current gas tax, impact fees and grants the county uses for road projects.

The proposal must be approved by July 1 for the tax increase to go into effect Jan. 1. Raising the tax would require at least four commission votes.

Commissioner Lee Weberman said he’s willing to listen to any argument against the fee increase, but is so far satisfied with the rate hike proposal.

“We can’t do the things we promised the public unless we raise the gas tax,” he said. “The county traditionally does not use sales tax or property tax for road work, and I don’t think this (commission) is going to break tradition.”

Adams said a protest is being planned for outside the county administration building on the day of the hearing.

The petition drive is expected to begin today, with Citizens for a Sound

Economy members making them available to the public outside grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants, Adams said.

Commissioner Michael DiTerlizzi, who owns gas stations in Palm City, Stuart and Indiantown, said the gas tax would be the “cheapest way to go.”

“I didn’t see residents protesting against the major oil companies when the prices were raised last year,” he said. “They’re the ones who raise the price, and they’re the ones who made the profit.”

He estimated that 20 to 25 percent of the money generated from the increase would come from motorists who live outside the county.

“We don’t have any choice. Impact fees were raised two years ago, and we’re not going to raise them again,” DiTerlizzi said. “We need $15 million just to build the western corridor” from Palm City into St. Lucie County.

Because it is not at the maximum local tax, DiTerlizzi said, the county has been overlooked for state roads grants.

“There will be $50 (million), $60 million in grant funding next year and if we don’t collect the maximum tax, we won’t get any of it,” he said.

Adams said his group would prefer no increases, but said the county has several other ways it could generate the necessary funds, from property taxes to establishing bridge tolls.

“We also would like them to make a priority list, the same way they did with the sales tax last year, prioritize so we may be able to stretch them out,” he said.

“This is not a good time to be increasing the fee because we’ve got problems in the Middle East, the price could go way up without a notice, it could go over $2 and $3 a gallon. I don’t want that but it’s a fact of life.”

Weberman said the road projects are already listed in the five-year plan and with the fluctuation in the price of gas, the 4-cent increase might go unnoticed by many.

“We’re down 60, 70 cents from where we were six months ago, so most people might not notice it,” he said.