Frequently Asked Questions - Local Option One Cent Sales Tax - Seminole County Government

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How or where did the idea originate for a 2001Referendum 1-Cent Sales Tax?
How did the distribution of the new sales tax between 2 purposes and among 9 entities evolve?

Why is transportation an issue for Seminole County?
Why does the county need to upgrade roads?
Why do we need an additional source of money for transportation improvements?
How much money is needed for education and why do we need additional an additional source of money?
How much of road needs are deficit versus new growth?

What projects will be done and how will those projects be prioritized?
How much income is expected to be derived from the 1-Cent Sales Tax?
What will the new total sales tax be with this 1-Cent?
Who else has this tax? Who has re-levied or extended this tax?
Why do we need to spend county tax money on state roads? Has anything developed regarding the state funding of state roads since the initial sales tax referendum?
When will I start seeing construction that the sales tax (not your other revenues) is helping to fund?
When will I start seeing school construction that the sales tax (not your other revenues) is helping to fund?
If you divide the approximately 200 new classrooms into the $133 million, the average cost per classroom is over $600,000. Isn't this cost high?
Why is a (20%) contingency included?
If the sales tax passes, who will pay it and what kinds of purchases will be taxed? (Avg. Impact to Consumer)
When would I start paying this sales tax if it passes? When does the 1991 Referendum 1-Cent Sales Tax end?
As the recipients of the largest share of funds under this program, does the School Board or Seminole County plan to borrow against the projected revenues from this tax?
Will funds be invested to create interest-based revenues and what would that money be used for?
Will funds be at least partially invested to create interest based revenues?
What interest rate will the funds be invested?
What assurances are there that the designated roads will be improved?

How is this sales tax program different from the previous program?
Why don't we just fund the roads that are currently over capacity and not build roads for growth?

What will happen if the sales tax fails?
What will happen to schools if the sales tax fails?
If the local option sales tax does pass, will an increase in the Ad Valorem or other tax rates still be needed?

What other funds or taxes are available for roads?
What other funds or taxes are available for schools?
Shouldn't impact fees be higher to reduce the sales tax amount?
The County adopted a road impact fee in 1987, won't these fees pay for all of our road needs?