As Christmas lights fade and New Year’s resolutions are broken within days of their inception, Alachua County welcomes another herald of 2011: a cheaper sales tax.
Local shoppers will pay a 6.25 percent tax on any products or services they purchase within the county this year, compared to the 6.75 percent rate they paid for the past two years.
The tax was reduced because the voter-approved Wild Spaces and Public Places tax ended on Dec. 31, 2010. The tax was created to fund various projects, including land conservation and park maintenance efforts.
The economic recession, however, provided lower sales tax revenues than originally expected. The program has reduced the scope of its plans to match the received funds, Alachua County commissioner Mike Byerly said.
The 2011 tax includes the statewide 6 percent rate and a 0.25 percent surtax used to fund CHOICES, a county health program that provides services for local workers who lack health insurance. The 7-year surtax, approved by voters in 2004, began in 2005 and will end on Dec. 31 of this year.
Revenue from the tax is used to provide various health services to the program’s uninsured members, CHOICES Director Bob Bailey said.
The program’s fund balance is about $40 million, and projected revenue for 2011 is expected to reach $7.5 million — the same amount received in 2010, he said. The services CHOICES provides, however, are growing more costly as its membership increases.
“This year the membership is growing so rapidly that, for the first time, CHOICES will spend more than it receives,” Bailey said.
CHOICES now receives between 300 and 350 applications per month, compared to a monthly average of about 250 in 2009, Bailey said. The economic recession also hurt its funding as many people began to spend less and save more.
When the surtax expires at the end of this year, CHOICES will continue to operate until either the money runs out or the county, with voter approval, alters the program plan, Byerly said.
“I think many of the issues that CHOICES was intended to address may ultimately be addressed by the health care program [introduced] this past year,” Byerly said. “We’re waiting to see how that shakes out.”
