People have asked me why can’t Escambia County follow the lead of Sarasota County and fast-track its Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) budget to jumpstart our economy.
During the next six years, Sarasota County officials plan to spend about $276 million on 52 capital improvement projects, such as roadways, new libraries, a new health department, park improvements and water and sewer upgrades.
The problem is Escambia County uses a large part of its LOST monies on vehicles, not “bricks and mortar.” Other counties buy vehicles from their General Fund.
Sarasota estimates as many as 900 new jobs will be created from its bold plan. Buying cars creates no jobs locally.
$35 million of the $56.5 million directed to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office through 2017 is slated for vehicle replacement. That is enough to almost completely fund the Community Maritime Park. It build several first-class public libraries. It would four-lane the road from Perdido Key to Pensacola.
The $35 million for ECSO vehicles is more than the $20 million planned for road widening, the $20 million for dirt road paving, the $11.5 million for water quality projects and the $7 million for neighborhood enhancements.
The problem is not just at the ECSO. We found that the county’s spending on vehicles amounted to about $4.6 million between fiscal years 2003 and 2007. That’s an average of $926,206 a year over that five-year span.
The Escambia County Commission needs to review its LOST plan and put it to uses that will create jobs and help the entire county.
Read Car Chase.