Living within our means: Who will the Public Service Tax affect?

The Sarasota County Board of Commissioners held a budget workshop on June 21 to address tax increases in our community.

They clearly want to improve the quality of life in Sarasota County through better amenities. But these improvements would come with challenges.

We applaud commissioners for unanimously deciding not to increase the county millage rate. We particularly thank those who decided that we should have a conversation about cutting expenses. However, as of this meeting, commissioners were considering initiating a public service tax of 5 percent. Though this may not seem like a huge change to many, it would disproportionately affect one-third of our county.

According to the Sarasota County 2017 Housing Affordability Demographic Snapshot, “The number of cost-burdened households in Sarasota County is projected to increase at a faster rate (27 percent) than the number of total households (24 percent) over the next 25 years.” This projection may be difficult for us to grasp now, but it could indicate problems for our community in the future. We already have one-third of our households living paycheck to paycheck, according to the Asset Limited, Income Constrained Employedreport generated each year by the United Way. This means this number will climb if we do nothing.

Though the commission is not entirely responsible for the high cost of living, it’s factors like increased taxes of any kind that will put these households over the edge. What stands out about the above statistics and is that affordable housing is at the top of the commission’s list of priorities, which state that their goal is to “Facilitate a community-based effort to help identify creative solutions to housing affordability.” If this is truly at the top of their list, then how will this increase in public service tax help our residents, especially our renters?

According to the final numbers recently released by the Sarasota County Property Appraiser's Office, the 2017 taxable values of all properties in Sarasota County increased by 8.13 percent. This means that, based on taxable value growth, $21.67 per year will be added per average apartment. So before we talk about an increase in tax rates, taxable value increases will cause rents to rise in this landlords' market. In addition to that, the county calculates that a public service tax would increase taxes on households' average electric fee by $37.70 and their water bill by $15.60. This adds up to a $75 average increase in new taxes for an average renter.

An increase even of $75, can be detrimental to a cost-burdened home and may not even be possible for many. Landlords won’t be paying the price — tenants will, including businesses.

What concerns me most is whether we understand our wants versus our needs. In its last meeting, the commission agreed to raise the budget for the sheriff’s office. It’s a given that this increase was considered for public safety reasons, which is something our county must always prioritize. With our remaining taxpayer dollars, though, additional increases will go toward amenity capital projects. Though it’d be nice to see improvements in our parks, are they more important than the safety and welfare of our renters?

According to the Florida Housing Finance Corp.'s 2016 Rental Market Study, medium-sized counties have 36 percent of cost-burdened renters in Florida. With Sarasota County being one of them, our cost-burdened renters make up 2 percent of the whole state. Additionally, we have 1 percent of public and assisted housing units.

While these numbers may not seem high, this means that 1 percent of our residents, or about 4,000 people, don’t meet the cut for Federal Housing Administration housing, meaning they are both cost-burdened and have limited resources and support. 

The numbers tell the tale: If this public service tax increase is put in place, 33 percent of our residents may not be able to make ends meet. This also will take a huge toll on our businesses and economy.

Many people know the admonition “live within your means.” This applies to taxpayers and government as well as individuals. We must use what we already have to reach our goals without increasing costs. This will help all residents while still allowing our community to grow.

Christine Robinson is executive director of the Argus Foundation.