- March 12, 2025
The Flagler County Commission levied a half-cent small county surtax Monday at its regular meeting.
The tax will take effect on Jan. 1, but it will essentially replace a tax of the same amount, which expires Dec. 31, holding sales tax in Flagler County steady at 7%.
Of revenue accumulated from the tax, 55% funds infrastructure needs for Flagler cities, with the remaining 45% going to the county.
The county’s money from this tax will largely fund projects to increase the capacity of the Flagler County Inmate Facility, which can no longer house all of the area’s criminals and creates for judges difficult questions about whom to imprison.
“We’re letting the wrong people on the street,” said County Administrator Craig Coffey. “We’re playing a gambling game.”
Flagler County’s correctional facility has 132 beds, a ratio of 1.38 beds per 1,000 citizens. In contrast, St. Johns County, the population of which is just more than double Flagler County’s, has a jail with 733 beds, Coffey said.
Commissioner Alan Peterson said he was reluctant to levy a tax without holding a public vote, even if the new tax would essentially just continue an existing one.
“I’m also very uncomfortable passing this with an indefinite time period,” Peterson said. “Give government money and they’ll spend it. Give a tax no sunset date and it’ll continue forever.”
Coffey said he thought a 20-year tax period would be necessary to fully fund jail expansion. The motion that was eventually voted on and passed put a two-decade expiration date on the tax.
“I think this was handled poorly,” said Commissioner Milissa Holland. “At the end of the day, yes, we all think the jail is necessary and needed, but I’m not comfortable approving this without the vote of the people.”
Holland noted the tax set to expire at the end of the year was originally passed by public vote. She also said she would want a new tax to work under a different distribution method between the county and its municipalities.
Chairwoman Barbara Revels said that while a public vote would be ideal, the consequences of rejecting the tax on that basis exceeded the consequences of making a decision without a vote.
“If we do not pass this today and we have to move forward with the jail, short of shipping our prison population to other communities … our only other option would be to raise other taxes,” she said.
And the issue extends beyond prison bed counts.
“Every city has this sales tax in their budget,” Revels said. “They’re counting on this money.”
The language of the tax ordinance allows for funding for expansion of correction facilities, provision of offices for the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, improvements to county roads and bridges, beach restoration and funding for recreational facilities in the county.
Holland was opposed to the ordinance because these other projects were never specifically laid out, discussed or voted on, she said.
“It’s not because I’m not in favor of building the jail; it’s because of how it came about,” Holland said.
Commissioner Nate McLaughlin pointed out that it’s been over a decade since the county has paved one of its roads and said that if revenue from the tax exceeds what’s needed to fund the jail project, other projects will be just as needed.
The commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of the tax, with Holland voting against it.
“The point is, the jail is needed, and it’s our responsibility to provide it,” said Commissioner George Hanns.
