SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – This November, Seminole County will ask voters to once again approve a penny sales tax.
For more than 30 years, the county has used money generated from the penny sales tax for essential infrastructure needs, including road repairs, school improvements, drainage projects and parks and trails.
After voters first approved the penny sales tax in 1991, it generated approximately $360 million in revenue which led to the completion of 140 projects over the next ten years. In 2001, voters in Seminole County passed the second generation of the tax, which resulted in $590 million in collected revenue and 723 total projects. When voters chose to take on the tax a third time in 2014, it generated over $800 million countywide.
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“There isn’t a roadway in Seminole County that is not impacted. Every time we improve a roadway, every time we improve stormwater,” said Commissioner Lee Constantine. “You see that penny.”
Monday, the county unveiled $400,000 worth of improvements at Sanlando Park in the Altamonte Springs area that were paid for by the penny sales tax.
Commissioner Constantine spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Everyone, outsiders, as well as citizens of Seminole County, pay for it,” said Constantine. “Thirty percent of this will be paid for by the citizens outside of Seminole County.”
The one-mile loop trail at Sanlando Park is now paved and ADA-accessible thanks to the penny sales tax.
The facilities recreation manager, Stephanie Kunz, drove our News 6 team through the park to see the improvements firsthand.
“When it was just a trail, a shell trail, we would spend thousands and thousands of dollars almost yearly just to keep the natural trail even available for anybody to walk on,” said Kunz.
Kunz said some parts of the trail would be washed out, and they’ve greatly improved the drainage and the experience for park visitors with the changes that have been made.
A man biking the trail Monday morning told our crew that it was a nice improvement.
Additional paved pathways around the park provide access to the pavilions, playground, and parking lot.
The penny sales tax has been used in many recognizable parts of the county including the Riverwalk in Sanford, improvements to Orange Boulevard, and other road projects in Oviedo, Casselberry, and Winter Springs. Revenue is split between the county, seven municipalities, and Seminole County Public Schools.
“This will be the 4th generation,” said Commissioner Constantine. “Citizens of Seminole County with their wisdom have voted for it three times and approved it three times.”
Constantine said if voters choose not to renew the penny sales tax, then the board of county commissioners will have to find ways to fund projects other ways.
“We’ll have to make some very tough decisions,” said Constantine. “Instead of having to increase property tax, ad valorem, we’re able to use the penny to do the projects that otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do.”
The current tax sunsets at the end of the year. If approved by voters in November, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2034.
You can see what that money could be used for where you live by clicking here.
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