Ridership was down from 4.71 million people in 2010 to 3.66 million in 2015. These ridership numbers include both City passengers and University passengers. Both categories declined during the five-year period. University riders declined 17% while City passengers declined 27%.

Also, due to the recent cancellation of the FAMU contract with StarMetro to provide bus services on campus, passenger numbers are expected to decline again in 2016.

During this same time period, the subsidies provided by taxpayers has increased from approximately $7.9 million in 2010 to approximately $10 million in 2015.

The subsidies are transferred annually from the General Fund, which is supported by property taxes, sales taxes, and utility taxes.

Recently the City of Tallahassee began using revenues collected from the Gasoline Tax to fund StarMetro operations. Since 2014 approximately $2.3 million in Gas Tax revenue has been transferred to StarMetro.

This means over the last three years, approximately $6.9 million has been removed from road paving, road maintenance and sidewalk projects to support StarMetro.

Various citizens groups, who are actively engaged with evaluating the City’s spending priorities, have raised concerns about StarMetro’s role in the need for the recent property tax increase and the lack of concern by City staff with StarMetro’s operational efficiency.

The City will present the FY2017 budget on June 2oth. TR will report on how the City deals with StarMetro funding when the information becomes available.

This, despite the fact that one of the main arguments used to push for an increase in the tax was that the materials used to maintain roads -asphalt – is a petroleum based product that has significantly increased in price over the last five years and the revenue is needed to maintain the transportation infrastructure.

The City, which gets $2 million of the tax, decided late last year that the majority of their share of the gas tax will go to fund Star Metro operations.

At the September 17, 2013 meeting of the Leon County Board of County Commissioners, the Board approved an increase in fuel tax.  The fuel tax begins January 1, 2014, and the County revenue is projected to be approximately $2 million the first year.

At that meeting the Board directed that one-half of the County’s revenues collected be used to reduce the current general revenue subsidy to the transportation program.  In other words, half of the fuel tax collected, approximately $1 million, would not increase spending on transportation projects, but rather free up additional monies in the General Revenue fund.

The other half of the County’s portion of the additional five-cent gas tax revenue was to be set aside for the highest priority transportation capital projects.

On January 21, 2014, the Leon Board of County Commissioners considered a recommendation to allocate the remaining $1 million of the 2014 fuel tax towards sidewalks.

The County Staff presented the following recommendation:

A major roadway project will cost tens of millions of dollars, which dwarfs the projected revenue stream from the local option gas tax.  It would require years of accumulation to fund a roadway project.  In order to have a more immediate impact on meeting Leon County’s community’s transportation needs, staff is recommending that the local option gas tax be utilized to enhance the current funding for Community Safety and Mobility (additional sidewalk projects) and Intersection and Safety Capital Projects.  These projects are eligible expenditures and tend to match the scale of the projected revenues.

The County Commission voted to accept the staff recommendation.

First up, the Leon County Commission and the five-cent increase in the gas tax that was passed by a vote of 7-2 (Commissioners Sauls and Proctor voted against).

The most popular rationale in favor of passage was the fact that it was a usage tax – the more you drive the more you pay. Other County Commissioners noted that it is a tax that is paid by people that live outside Leon County, but travel the roads to get to work. And finally, it was highlighted that the materials used to maintain roads -asphalt – is a petroleum based product that has significantly increased in price over the last five years and the revenue is needed to maintain the transportation infrastructure.

The assumption of most people that heard these rationales was that an increase in the gas tax, which would result in $2 million in additional annual revenue, would increase expenditures for road maintenance.
Yet a review of the 2014 budget reveals that road maintenance expenditures will only increase by $800,000-less than half of the $2 million in additional revenue generated by the new tax.

If not to road maintenance or other transportation projects, where will the other $1.2 million go? Will it subsidize pay raises or plug another whole in the budget? The Leon County Commission owes an answer to those who pay this tax.

Next up, the City. As detailed by Tallahassee Reports, the City of Tallahassee recently renegotiated the contract with Waste Pro, the private vendor that provides trash pick up services for close to 50,000 residents. The negotiation resulted in a 15% decrease in the fees charged by Waste Pro. However, the savings were not passed on to consumers, rather, unbelievably, the City actually increased the fees to City residents.

In fact, the City Commission was not even given the option in the agenda item developed by City staff to vote to pass on the savings to the customers. It is also true, not one City Commissioner asked for the savings to be passed on to their constituents.

Further research revealed that the City of Tallahassee is charging approximately $3 million more a year for trash pick-up than it actually cost to deliver the service. Approximately $1.6 million of these excess charges go to the general fund to help support core city services. This leaves $1.4 million unaccounted for. Where is this money and what does it pay for? The City Commission owes its citizens an explanation.

Taken together, the action by the Leon County Commission and the City Commission will result in the annual collection of approximately $2.5 million in fees or taxes that are not being spent on the services they say they are being collected for.

These shell games during tough economic times is unacceptable and can do nothing but increase the level of distrust between the government and the people they get paid to represent.

During a lunch meeting with NEBA today, County  Commissioners had an opportunity to discuss their rationale for supporting the tax. 

The most popular rationale was the fact that it was a usage tax – the more you drive the more you pay. Also, County Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley pointed out that the increase in the gas tax will allow Leon County to qualify for more state transportation tax money. Other Commissioners noted that it is a tax that is paid by people that live outside Leon County, but travel the roads to get to work.

And finally, it was highlighted that the materials used to maintain roads -asphalt – is a petroleum based product that has significantly increased in price over the last five years and the revenue is needed to maintain the transportation infrastructure.

However, the $4 million question is will the 5 cent gas tax result in more expenditures for road maintenance?

The City has already weighed-in on this question and their answer was no. The majority of their share of the gas tax, approximately $2 million, will go to fund  Star Metro operations.

The County Commissioners had a chance to answer that question when it was asked by the moderator of the discussion at NEBA, but the Commissioners chose to discuss their rationale for supporting the tax and never provided an answer about how the new tax would effect the level of road maintenance expenditures.

In 2013, Leon County budgeted $13.5 million for road maintenance projects.  A new gas tax that generates approximately $2 million should increase that budgeted amount and result in more expenditures for maintaining roads and bridges.

However, it is not that simple.

Approximately $4.3 million of the $13.5 million budgeted in 2013 for road and bridge maintenance was funded by a subsidy from other revenue funds. So the question is, if the gas tax passes, will revenue dedicated to road and bridge maintenance increase or will the gas tax revenue take the place of the other revenues that have subsidized the road maintenance over the last five years?

The upcoming public hearings on the gas tax  will provide ample time for Leon County citizens to get an answer to that question.

However, the City will receive an additional $2 million in revenue from the 5 cents increase in the county’s gas tax which was approved by the Leon Board of County Commissioners yesterday.

City Manager Anita Favors said that a portion of the gas tax revenue will be used to fund Star Metro, which will in turn, help address the $5 million General Fund deficit.

However, when presented with the gas tax proposal, the City Commission voted 3-2 (Miller and Ziffer against) to seek more than the 50% proportion of the gas tax that the Leon County Commission was offering.  In response, the Leon County Commission opted not to move forward.

Things have changed.

Based on Leon County budget workshop documents “the City has indicated a desire to enter into an interlocal agreement under the proposal originally offered by the County regarding the allocation of the existing six-cent gas tax and the additional five-cent gas tax. The terms of the agreements would be to authorize the extension of the existing six cents under the concurrent allocation and the additional five cents would be allocated on a fifty-fifty basis.”

Therefore, on July 8th, at the Board of County Commissioners budget workshop, county budget staff is asking the County Commissioners  “to finalize the appropriate interlocal agreements related to the extension of the existing six cent gas tax under the current allocation and the imposition of the additional five cent gas under a 50/50 split in a form approved by the County and City Attorney’s and authorize execution.

The public hearing for the gas tax would be  on September 17, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.

The additional $2 million in gas tax money received by the City will help with the $5 million budget deficit in the City’s General Fund.