- March 14, 2025
Nearly 14 hours after the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners delayed putting the half-cent sales tax on November’s general election ballot, County Commissioner Alan Peterson gave an emergency presentation to the Palm Coast City Council Tuesday morning.
His message was loud and clear: “If you don’t support the extension of the existing sales tax, then my feeling today is the County Commission today will not put it on as a referendum,” he said.
Peterson was speaking for himself — just one of five voices on the County Commission. But he admitted the longer the county delays its decision, “the worse the problem is going to be.”
Earlier this month, the county decided with a 3-2 consensus to put the continuation of the half-cent sales tax on the ballot. The agreement came in a budget workshop that was focused on a plan for jail expansion.
However, the County Commission tabled a vote Monday to put the tax on the ballot. Instead, the County Commission will revisit the discussion at its July 31 workshop.
The proposal called for a 15-year continuation of the sales tax with the Florida Department of Revenue’s default formula. The plan was for the county spend its portion on jail expansion. The new formula, which will be different from the current interlocal agreement, would provide the county with a greater share of the funds. The amount Palm Coast and the other cities would get would be reduced.
Mayor Jon Netts said Tuesday that he’d like to see hard numbers as to how much the county would be short if the interlocal agreement formula was continued.
“I need some metrics that tell me why this particular project needs that additional $500,000,” Netts said, adding that the county has to yet to show any cost estimates.
City Councilman Bill McGuire chimed in Tuesday, too. He said the County Commission should be concerned with convincing the voters, not just the local governments.
“The County Commission has asked for a larger share of the sales tax than they are traditionally used to getting, and yet they have not displayed fiscal responsibility,” McGuire said. “The county came up anywhere from $2 million to $7 million short and it came as a surprise. This doesn’t reflect my opinion, but it does reflect the opinion of many people out there on the street. You have a bigger job to sell the public on the idea that you’re going to be a good steward with the tax money you raise.”
Peterson, who said the shortfall didn’t come as a surprise, reiterated the importance of the continuation.
He cited last week's “Operation Pain Management” drug bust, in which there weren’t any cells available and there was no space for mattresses to be put on the floor.
Peterson also noted that Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano, who has been flexibile with the county’s circumstances, will be leaving later this year to preside in Volusia County.
“If we are releasing people from jail because we don’t have room for them, confining offenders becomes a joke,” Peterson said. “The danger in not expanding our jail is that we will have a new judge and the state will tell us what to do. We all know it’s better for us to decide what to do rather than the state tell us what to do.”
The City Council will have a budget workshop 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 24, at City Offices. The City Council agreed to discuss the half-cent sales tax at one of its two upcoming workshops: July 24 or July 31.
Peterson gave one last plea toward the end of his presentation.
“The county needs your support ... (and) there’s a concern that if Palm Coast doesn’t support this half-cent sales tax because you disagree with the allocation formula, that if it’s put on the ballot, the initiative will fail.”
