PENSACOLA, Fla. — It’s just under four months until the general election in November.
City of Pensacola and Escambia County leaders are sounding the alarm about taxes that will be up for vote on the ballot.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is advocating for cuts to property taxes throughout the state. Another is the one-cent sales tax — also known as the local open sales tax or “LOST.”
The concern is growing about the reality of these funds going away.
This ballot measure is not to increase taxes. It would maintain the system that’s already in place and has been for the last few decades.
County and city leaders say the impacts would be detrimental if it went away.
For the last ten years, more than $108 million have gone towards improvements in the City of Pensacola.
Projects like the Fricker Center, road improvements, and emergency response are either partially or fully funded with the one-cent sales tax.
“It is an infrastructure and public safety funding stream that’s vital for city operations and certainly county operations,” Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said.
Come Nov. 3, voters will have a choice to make. Either keep the one-cent sales tax or get rid of it. It’s a stark reality for Mayor Reeves.
“I mean, that isn’t a haircut,” said Reeves. “That would be pretty much a decapitation of significant revenue streams.”
Local voters first approved the one-cent sales tax in 1992. The majority voted to renew the tax every time it’s been on the ballot since then.
WEAR News asked Mayor Reeves what’s at risk if the tax doesn’t pass.
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin, but it would certainly be a huge hit to public safety in the city,” Reeves said. “And it would be a huge hit to infrastructure and our parks.”
Reeves warned the impact will be even greater at the county level for Escambia and Santa Rosa.
Escambia County commissioner Mike Kohler says the one-cent sales tax brings in $70 million to the county for infrastructure projects.
“The thing that worries me is both ballot three and the low option sales tax passes,” Kohler said. “…If both of those were to pass, we’d be shortchanged about $140 million out of the budget.”
Kohler says he supports what the voters wants. He says he wants to know what voters are willing to sacrifice.
“There’s no way you can maintain the same services losing that amount of money out of the budget without a tax shift or service reduction,” Kohler said.
Pensacola could face a similar fate if the tax isn’t renewed.
“Will we get a budget approved and figured out if that happens?” said Reeves. “Yeah, I just don’t think our citizens will like the answers that that lie on the other side.”
The current one-cent sales tax will continue to be collected through December 2028. This latest referendum would extend it ten years through December 2038.
Commissioner Kohler says if the referendum does not pass, it will likely be back on the ballot in two years.
