Sales Tax Ordinance 13- 34 The Whereas Part 2

Actually you are not directly voting on the GreenLight Plan. You are voting to make Ordinance 13- 34 a law. This is an important distinction, because Ordinance 13- 34 will become a law if the referendum succeeds, but the GreenLight Plan does not.

This Post continues a series where we look at The Sales Tax Ordinance, Ordinance 13- 34, and compare it to what is being said by the sales tax supporters.

Here is a link to the actual Ordinance (Law) that you are being asked to approve in the sales Tax Referendum: Greenlight Pinellas Tax Ordinance.

We continue with the Whereas Section:

WHEREAS, the Board finds that the transportation improvements will enhance access to major employment centers in Pinellas County, increasing the County's economic competitiveness, promote walkable communities, enhance mixed-use neighborhoods, promote economic and community redevelopment, protect stable neighborhoods, expand mobility choices for the citizens and visitors of

Sales Tax Ordinance No 13- 34 WHEREAS Part 1

Here is a link to the actual Ordinance (Law) that you are being asked to approve in the sales Tax Referendum: Greenlight Pinellas Tax Ordinance.

Actually you are not directly voting on the GreenLight Plan. You are voting to make Ordinance 13 -34 a law. This is an important distinction, because Ordinance 13- 34 will become a law if the referendum succeeds, the GreenLight Plan does not.

The WHEREAS Section:

WHEREAS, Sections 212.054 and 212.055(1), Florida Statutes (the "Acts"), authorize certain counties in Florida, including charter counties, to levy a discretionary sales surtax referred to as the "Charter County and Regional Transportation System Surtax" ("Surtax") subject to elector approval; and

WHEREAS, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners ("Board") previously declared its intent in Resolution No. 13-19 to place a referendum question on the November 4, 2014 ballot seeking approval of a levy of up to one percent Surtax to fund countywide transportation projects; and

Note in this WHEREAS the law as provided for by State Statute and established by this Ordinance is constructed to allow a sales sir tax UP TO 1% but in fact the County proposes to levy the entire 1% from day one. 

There is no PSTA budget or plan that requires this fourfold increase in PSTA revenue for the very first year of the sales sir tax.

WHEREAS, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority ("PST A"), a transportation authority created by a special act to purchase, own and/or operate transit facilities within Pinellas County, has developed a plan for the improvement, construction, equipping, operation, maintenance and financing of public

What Are You Actually Voting for in the Sales Tax Referendum?

Here is a link to the actual Ordinance (Law) that you are being asked to approve in the sales Tax Referendum: Greenlight Pinellas Tax Ordinance.

Actually you are not directly voting on the GreenLight Plan. You are voting to make Ordinance 13 -34 a law. This is an important distinction, because Ordinance 13- 34 will become a law if the referendum succeeds, the GreenLight Plan does not.

This Post begins a 12 Post series where we look at The Sales Tax Ordinance, Ordinance 13- 34, and compare it to what is being said by the sales tax supporters.

ORDINANCE  NO. 13- 34 

AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PINELLAS COUNTY LEVYING THE CHARTER COUNTY AND EGIONALTRANSPORTATION SYSTEM SURTAX SUBJECT TO ELECTOR APPROVALAT A RATE OF ONE PERCENT; ESTABLISHING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OFTHE SURTAX; PROVIDING FOR ADMINISTRATION, COLLECTION, ANDENFORCEMENT OF THE SURTAX; PROVIDING FOR THE DISTRIBUTION, USE, AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF SURTAX PROCEEDS; CALLING FOR A REFERENDUM ELECTION FOR APPROVAL OF IMPOSITION OF THE SURTAX; PROVIDING A BALLOT TITLE AND SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED REFERENDUM QUESTION; PROVIDING FOR NOTICE OF THE REFERENDUM ELECTION; PROVIDING FOR NOTICE TO BE GIVEN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE; PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN THE PINELLAS COUNTY CODE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

The paragraph presented above in its format from Ordinance No 13- 34 is called the Preamble and appears at the top of the Ordinance document. The Preamble describes in legally acceptable terms what is in the Ordinance that follows.

Here is a Breakdown:

AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OFPINELLAS COUNTY LEVYING THE CHARTER COUNTY AND EGIONALTRANSPORTATION SYSTEM SURTAX SUBJECT TO ELECTOR APPROVALAT A RATE OF ONE PERCENT;

This Section establishes the Board of County Commissioners legal authority to levy the sales tax increase.

ESTABLISHING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OFTHE SURTAX;

This section establishes the County Board of Commissioners ability to set the effective date of the tax.

PROVIDING FOR ADMINISTRATION, COLLECTION, AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE SURTAX;

This section establishes the legal grounds for the administration and collection of the sales tax

PROVIDING FOR THE DISTRIBUTION, USE, AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF SURTAX PROCEEDS;

This Section sets up the overall responsibility for management of the proceeds of the sales tax.

CALLING FOR A REFERENDUM ELECTION FOR APPROVAL OF IMPOSITION OF THE SURTAX;

This section sets up the referendum mechanism and calls for a public vote.

PROVIDING A BALLOT TITLE AND SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED REFERENDUM QUESTION;

This Section provides for the actual Ballot language you will see on your mail in or voting booth ballot.

PROVIDING FOR NOTICE OF THE REFERENDUM ELECTION;

This Section provides for public notice of the Referendum vote.

PROVIDING FOR NOTICE TO BE GIVEN TO THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE;

This Section provides for a legal notice to be sent to the Florida department of Revenue should the Referendum pass indicating the County will begin collecting the tax

PROVIDING FOR INCLUSION IN THE PINELLAS COUNTY CODE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY;

This Section does two important things. First should the Referendum succeed, it incorporates the language of the Referendum Ordinance No. 13- 34 into the County Code as Law and provides Severability which means if any Section of Ordinance No. 13- 34 is found to be illegal; the finding does affect any other Section of the Sales Tax Ordinance.

PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Section provides for the setting of an effective date for the implementation of the Sale Tax increase should the Referendum pass.

Comment

The Preamble contains a legally acceptable summary phrasing of the Sections that follow in the actual Ordinance that will become law.

In the next Post in this series we will look at the WHEREAS Section which establishes the motivation and methodology that caused the Sales Tax Ordinance and referendum to be proposed.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb)Friend request. See More of Doc at Bay Post Internet, and St.Pete Patch, Gulfport Patch, Clearwater Patch, Palm Harbor Patch, Largo Patch.
Disclosures: Contributor to No Tax for Tracks

Sunday May 4, 2014 The Sales Tax Ordinance

On November 4, 2014 Pinellas County voters are being asked to tax themselves and our visitors $100 Million dollars more for public transportation than they are now paying.

There has already been a lot of hype about the "Greenlight" plan but very little conversation about the actual Ordinance the voters are being asked to approve.

Ordinance 13-  34 was written by the PSTA, its legal staff and advisers and according to the Pinellas County Commission accepted with almost no

changes.

Here is a link to the Ordinance: Greenlight Pinellas Tax Ordinance

While Greenlight supporters would have voters believe that this Referendum is all about public transportation, the actual Ordinance says almost nothing about the Greenlight plan. In fact the term Greenlight is never defined and only appears twice in the entire Ordinance.

A word search of the document reveals the following

 WORD                                   OCCURRENCE

Greenlight                                          2

Bond(s)                                              5

Financing                                           2

Refinancing                                        2

Indebtedness                                      5

Interlocal agreement                           5

Bus                                                     8

Passenger Rail                                   4

Approve                                              2

Audit                                                   0

Report                                                0

Like most Ordinances, this one is long and the language can be a bit confusing. Voters need to take a look at what they are actually voting for in the Sales Tax Referendum.

Once approved this poorly crafted Ordinance becomes law and will be almost impossible to amend or repeal.

Beginning Monday May 5 and continuing for 4 weeks, I will present a series of 12 Posts that look at Ordinance 13- 34 in detail.

Please follow along and know what the Ordinance says before you vote. Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am opposed to Ordinance 13- 34 simply because I believe it is a poorly crafted Ordinance that provides instantaneous excessive revenue flow to PSTA, has virtually no financial controls or reporting requirements, allows the PSTA far too easy access to financing, and provides no mandates that the bus system will actually be expanded before the funds are obligated to bonds to build a passenger rail project.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb)Friend request. See More of Doc at Bay Post Internet, WATCHDOGWIRE-FLORIDA and St.Pete Patch, Gulfport Patch, Clearwater Patch, Palm Harbor Patch, Largo Patch.
Disclosures: Contributor to No Tax for Tracks

THE GREENLIGHT Interlocal Agreements

Here is a link to a good discussion of the talks on the undefined Interlocal Agreements that are part of the Sales Tax Ordinance:  County and PSTA hash out interlocal

Be sure to read this link.

Here are some notable quotes:

"The tax has no duration unlike Penny for Pinellas,” Bennett said. “The project, especially rail, is very ambitious. It has many moving parts.” Bennett is the Pinellas County attorney

While the PSTA in its political campaign says the sales tax will replace the Property tax:

"One point specifies that the County can withhold distribution of transit surtax proceeds and/or reduce the levy if PSTA ever decides to levy ad valorem taxes. The Greenlight plan calls for a “tax swap” – a transit surtax in place of the ad valorem tax – not double taxation."

Know this: voting yes for the Sale Tax referendum DOES NOT end the Property Tax. Only the State Legislature can do that.

Follow this: Here we have the PSTA Board who wrote the Sales Tax Ordinance, many of whose members are also on the Pinellas County Commission which will approve and enforce any interlocal agreement regarding the funds.

In other words, the people who will be responsible for collecting the funds from the State and setting the rules for their distribution, the Pinellas County Commission, these same people set on the PSTA Board of Directors and they are the people who want to get their hands on the money mostly to build a train to nowhere.

I know... go back and read it again.

The article above goes on to say "Municipalities would need to work out their own agreement for reimbursement."

Once the PSTA has what will likely be an interlocal agreement with the County that looks like Swiss cheese and $130 million dollars in annual revenue, just how well do you think those negotiations with the "other municipalities' will go?

The PSTA and the County Commissioners who are on the PSTA Board are now in a panic to get an interlocal agreement, since the issue has been raised.

They want something in place before the election so they can point to something they will call "agreements", but remember these agreements are NOT part of the Ordinance, they will not be law, and they can and will be manipulated to the benefit of those who would build a train at any cost.

If the PSTA and the County wanted these controls they should have been built into the Ordinance so they would have the force of law.

The Pinellas County Commission and the PSTA and its Board are now trying to put lipstick on the pig, and I for one am not buying it.

e-mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net, or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb)Friend request. See More of Doc at Bay Post Internet, WATCHDOGWIRE-FLORIDA and St.Pete Patch, Gulfport Patch, Clearwater Patch, Palm Harbor Patch, Largo Patch.

Disclosures: Contributor to No Tax for Tracks