Eager to prioritize and protect Santa Rosa County’s agricultural industry, District 3 Commissioner Rhett Rowell is proposing allocation of future Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds for farm conservation. But Rowell fell short of the vote of support he was seeking during Tuesday’s committee meeting, because of concern it would jeopardize this fall’s half-cent sales tax renewal.
Since taking office in November 2024, Commissioner Rowell has lobbied for more measures to preserve the county’s farmland, most of which is in his district. Now he wants a funding source to help protect its $90 million-a-year economic impact.
“By dedicating a portion of the local options sales tax renewal, we can save our farmland and agricultural industry without taking money from an already tight budget,” said Rowell. “Just like we have to plan and we’re making plans, rightfully so, in District 2, for economic development — we’re doing this for jobs — we have to and need a plan to preserve and to help our agricultural industry.”
RELATED: Following changes, “Farm Bill” ready for Senate floor
The current five-year sales tax program, which expires at the end of the year, will generate over $59 million to fund projects including transportation and drainage improvements, public safety, and recreation and natural resources.
“I’m asking for a vote by the board that we have a guarantee that there will be a piece of that pie to be preserved for farmland,” Rowell stated. “We had a phenomenal presentation last month. We’ve got the plan, we’ve got the analytics, we’ve got the information.”
Rowell didn’t suggest an amount or percentage to set aside for farmland, but his confidence is based on a recent presentation by the Trust for Public Land regarding the county’s consideration of establishing a new land conservation fund. The organization has touted several ballot successes, since starting their conservation finance program in 1996.
Although generally supportive of conserving the county’s farms, Commissioner Kerry Smith and other members of the board were cautious about putting that into the mix before the benefit of more research on the sales tax, which is coming up for renewal this fall.
“I would like to see what we have coming back as far as the data that’s right now being collected on where the electorate is looking,” Smith began. “Because this half-cent sales tax that we’re currently going for a renewal on, it’s up to the people, and that’s gonna be this November. And I can sit here and I can look at staff and I can look at every member of this board and we know we’re in trouble if that were to not pass.”
That’s acknowledgement that citizen support has been fragile. Before approval in 2016, Santa Rosa voters had rejected several previous efforts to pass a Local Option Sales Tax and less than two years ago, denied a referendum to add an additional half-cent to the existing half-cent sales tax.
Smith says the county can’t afford to lose to risk another voter rejection.
“I will always vote from my conscience and my heart and what I believe is right and I know that if we lose that half cent that we currently have, we’re going to have some serious budgetary problems,” he declared.
That’s because the county is currently almost $1 billion behind in transportation and infrastructure construction and needs funding to complete the numerous road projects currently in the works, including the costly widening of Berryhill and Woodbine roads.
Ultimately, Smith and Commission Chairman Colten Wright advocated for slowing down and waiting for additional analytics from the Trust for Public Land, which continues to research the issue.
“It won’t be on the ballot until November. The language, I think, is due early August, maybe early August is when the ballot language is required to the SOE’s (Supervisor of Elections) office and to the state,” said Wright. “To wait until March, sometime in late March, to have information and do some, frankly, give us all an opportunity to externally talk to people in our districts and our communities about how they feel about it.”
Wright is concerned about South Santa Rosa residents.
“You ask them, are they willing to take their Local Option Sales Tax dollars that are paying for their parks and their roads and their public safety and carve some of it off to pay for a farm 60-miles away from them, I think you’re gonna find a number of those that — unless you can actually make the argument on why and why it’s important — I think they’re gonna balk at that.”
After expressing their support initially, Commissioners Bobby Burkett and Ray Eddington also joined the calls to wait about 30 days for more information during a workshop on the sales tax.
Jeff Snow, a former Milton City Councilman and the lone member of the public to comment, spoke in support of moving ahead with a vote.
For his part, Rowell acknowledged, but disagreed with his colleague’s arguments that going ahead with a carve out for farmland conservation will hurt the sales tax vote.
“To me, it’s a win-win and is only going to help us pass the sales tax, to help us get it across the finish line,” said Rowell. “I understand the concern, but I think it improves the chances of the sales tax renewal.”
After Rowell’s efforts to move the item to Thursday’s agenda failed, the board voted 4-1 to table his request until a workshop discussion next month.
