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Gas tax may be back again in a few months

By WILL VAN SANT
Published December 21, 2005

CLEARWATER - The Pinellas County Commission narrowly voted down a proposal Tuesday to levy an extra penny tax on gasoline to battle road congestion.

Supporters said the extra penny would help create a system of signals on major arteries that could rapidly adapt to traffic, reducing delays, improving air quality and cutting fuel consumption.

Opponents said they were anxious about approving a countywide tax without written support from the city of St. Petersburg and other municipalities.

Board member Calvin Harris, running for re-election in 2006, questioned the merits of funding the plan with a tax.

"We want to improve and we want to get better," Harris said before the vote, "but does every improvement require a new tax?"

Harris, who said political considerations had nothing to do with his vote, was joined in his opposition by board members Bob Stewart and Ronnie Duncan.

To pass, the plan needed backing from five of seven board members. With three no votes, the proposal died.

County administrator Steve Spratt said all cities had agreed to participate but were waiting for the county to approve a funding source before entering agreements that could reduce their authority over traffic control.

Pete Yauch, the county's director of transportation, said he hoped to secure the written agreements with the cities and bring the proposal before the board again, a process that could take several months.

Stewart and Duncan said they would be willing to reconsider the idea after such agreements had been signed.

Officials estimated the extra penny would have cost the average Pinellas motorist an additional $6.50 a year, based on data from the AAA.

"It's crazy out there," said board member Susan Latvala of traffic on Pinellas roads. "I can't see any way to resolve this ... without high-tech tools."

According to the state Department of Transportation, the total number of miles driven on Pinellas roads climbed from about 6-billion in 1999 to nearly 9-billion in 2003, the last year for which figures are available.

Pinellas drivers currently pay 18.4 cents a gallon in federal tax, 14.5 cents to the state and 11.8 to the county, although 5.8 cents of that amount is levied due to an act of the Florida Legislature.

Pinellas' gas tax has been among the lowest in Florida.

It has not increased since 1992, when it went from 4 to 6 cents on a gallon. With the penny increase, Pinellas drivers would have paid 45.7 cents in taxes on a gallon of gasoline, the same as drivers in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

In surveys, including one whose results were released earlier this month, residents consistently rank transportation improvements as a top concern.

Also Tuesday night, the board approved a 10-year extension of the levy of 6 cents per gallon that has been in effect for 13 years. That tax pays for road construction and repair projects and was set to expire on Aug. 1, 2007.

[Last modified December 21, 2005, 00:51:17]