Mary Esther Councilwoman Ruth Sykes said something interesting last week when asked about county officials’ proposal to increase the local gasoline tax by as much as 5 cents per gallon. “It’s not good timing,” she said. “Nobody wants any more (taxes).”
We disagree with the first part of her statement. If Okaloosa County commissioners want to hike the gas tax, their timing couldn’t be better:
-- Fuel prices at the pump lately have gone down more than they’ve gone up.
-- Revenue from the gas tax would pay for road work mainly in the north county, where people say it’s needed. “Something has to be done to get these roads paved,” Crestview Mayor David Cadle told us.
-- In a guest column on Sunday’s Second Opinion page, Sheriff Larry Ashley makes the case for a fuel tax hike as one of “only three equitable options … to increase revenues.”
But Councilwoman Sykes was correct in the second half of her comment. Nobody seems to want any more taxes.
When the Daily News asked online readers last month whether Okaloosa should raise its gas tax to pay for road repairs, 89 percent said no. When county commissioners sent letters to area cities and towns seeking opinions on the tax — and obviously hoping municipal officials would join the crusade — the reaction was sour. “I’m against raising taxes at all,” said Destin Councilman Larry Williges. Upping the gas tax, said Fort Walton Beach Councilman Trey Goodwin, could “send a signal that we fix problems by raising taxes.”
It doesn’t look as if the commissioners will hear what they wanted to hear.
In Sheriff Ashley’s view, scrapping the gas tax hike would leave two “equitable” options: raising the local sales tax or imposing a 6 percent utility franchise fee.
In our view, there is one more option — reducing the county’s budget to match expected revenue.
Cutting costs, in other words. For this particular strategy, there’s no need to worry about politics or the price at the pump. The timing is always good.