Raising St. Johns County's sales tax from 6 cents per dollar to 7 cents per dollar could raise an estimated $20 million per year -- for five years -- and pay for needed transportation improvements and purchase conservation lands.

In a referendum Nov. 4, voters will be asked to approve the "penny for preservation" tax.

But opponents of the tax increase are pointing out that right now is a very poor time to ask for $100 million.

Adam Guillette, state director of the Ponte Vedra Beach-based Americans for Prosperity, said, "Our economy is declining, gas prices are high, housing prices are dropping and the financial markets are in a mess. Why do they need more of our money during a recession?"

The tax increase question was approved by the County Commission with very little opposition in September.

Proponents argue that the economic downturn is an excellent time for the tax.

According to studies by the Trust for Public Land, an estimated 62 percent of the proceeds would be paid by out-of-county people. Also, the county can get much more conservation land per dollar because property values are much lower now.

Roger Van Ghent of St. Augustine, a member of St. Johns Forever, a political action group organized to support passage of the tax increase, said Monday that the tax will be split evenly between buying conservation lands and repairing roads and bridges for safety.

The web page for his group is www.stjohnsforever.org.

"The citizens of St. Johns County are enjoying the benefits of parks and natural lands, yet we don't have enough for our population," Van Ghent said. "We need six to nine more parks, and we cannot do that without this money. Also, every dollar of this tax is matched by one from the state."

He explained that a state grant of $200,000, for example, usually requires the county to put in $50,000 as a match. The county doesn't have that kind of money sitting around.

"But it's not just for conservation," Van Ghent said. "There are dramatic transportation problems in this county, especially in the north part, that we need to straighten out and correct. It's going to fix the damage caused by over-development."

None of the money will go for building new roads in undeveloped areas, he said. But it will purchase traffic signals, ease congestion and provide alternative routes such as mass transit, sidewalks, bicycle lanes and multi-purpose paths.

This week the county released a map of the areas which will be able to receive some of the transportation money.

St. Johns Forever raised about $7,000 in cash and $1,200 in in-kind services and issued a full-color mailer. Van Ghent said the group plans two more.

Pat Hamilton of Crescent Beach said he's always been "a huge supporter of conservation lands" but said Monday he was not sure he would support the tax referendum yet.

Looking at the county-supplied map, he noted that the development areas were delineated but added, "It looks to me that there's a lot of rural land that would be affected by (road improvements). That jumps out at me. That's a concern.

"I don't want to subsidize people coming in for new development."

A quick glance tells him that State Road 206, for example, could be affected.

"It's mostly undeveloped and two lanes," Hamilton said. "We don't have transportation problems on S.R. 206. I'd like to see all the (tax) money given to public transport and bike lanes."

However, Susie Wiles of St. Johns Forever said development of S.R. 206 is not part of the tax revenue plan.

"The longer we wait to buy conservation land, the less that will be available at any price," she said.

This year, the state's Florida Community Trust issued 18 grants to various cities and counties. Sixteen of them had matching money and St. Johns County would have been in the top 10 if it had declared any matching money, she said.

"This is not designed to help developers have more capacity. The County Commission has been clear on that," she said. "The average family will pay a bit more over a year, but big ticket items have been capped. The Legislature has created ballot language that cannot be tampered with. (People) are often suspicious (of government), but these restrictions are as tight as we can make them without declaring martial law."

Americans for Prosperity plans a Town Hall-type public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at the Days Inn Historic Downtown, 1300 N. Ponce De Leon Blvd, to explain the one-cent sales tax increase to voters.

St. Augustine Record