Our research is revealing more to the ECAT funding issue than what has been reported by the Escambia Board of County Commissioners.
The City of Pensacola funds its part of ECAT with the gas taxes it receives from Escambia County. A portion ($800-900K) goes to ECAT, the balance is used to pave city streets.
A few years back, the Escambia County changed its formula for sharing the gas tax monies. As a result of the change, the City saw its gas taxes decrease while ECAT funding needs were increasing. The City projected by 2010 that all its gas taxes would have to be used for ECAT – leaving nothing for city paving projects and other road improvements.
The county refused to renegotiate the formula. So the City announced on April 1, 2006 that it would terminate the interlocal agreement on funding ECAT, effective Sept. 30, 2006.
In Sept. 2006, the county came back and asked the City to fund ECAT one more year (thru Sept. 30, 2007) and the county agreed to come up with a dedicated funding source by April 1, 2007.
The county never did – which has created this funding fiasco. Read INdaily to see the pdf of the Sept. 2006 agreement: County broke ECAT agreement with City
Guess who signed the interlocal agreement committing the county to finding a dedicated funding source by April 1, 2007: Mike Whitehead.