Lawmakers insist Volusia sales tax be spent as promised

DAYTONA BEACH — Local lawmakers took on one key question of skeptics of the proposed Volusia County half-cent sales tax: How do we know local officials will spend the estimated $42 million in revenue on infrastructure and water-quality projects as promised?

[PREVIOUS: Sales tax ballots head to Volusia mailboxes]

And more than 100 at a Republican Club of Daytona Beach luncheon Wednesday were salted with a pinch of skepticism about the ongoing vote-by-mail election from the lawmakers themselves.

State Rep. David Santiago, R-Deltona, explained one of his concerns.

"I’m waiting to see how the mail-in ballot thing works out, because I hadn’t updated my signature so I don’t know if my vote’s gonna count," he said to laughs.

To which state Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, retorted: "Your vote’s gonna count because I know how to do your signature."

Wright said he voted for the half-cent sales tax in the referendum that's continuing until Tuesday. He likes the fact that a sales tax will require tourists who use services in the county to contribute to paying for the roads, bridges and pipelines that need improvements.

"I think that our leaders are going to be responsible enough to use the money the way that we asked," he said.

Santiago said lawmakers will call locals to account if the money doesn't get spent right. He said he participated in a committee hearing on a bill pushed by the Miami-Dade delegation to abolish a similar tax, where "1 percent of the billions they collected" was spent on the intended projects.

"We brought them to the cleaners in the committee," Santiago said.

State Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said it's "human nature" for politicians to favor short-term projects that help them get reelected rather than what's best for Florida in 50 years.

"It’s not sexy to fix a wastewater treatment facility, but it’s critically important for the future. And so I would absolutely if the citizens decide to impose a tax on themselves … I would absolutely insist that not one dollar go outside of that purpose."

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Wright said there's one other method of accountability available.

"If we don’t do our job right, you don’t vote us back in," he said. "You always have the keys to the store. You really do. You’re really in control of this, the voters."