Featured Commentary

posted Jul 2, 2009 - 10:48:06am

What Were They Thinking by Tanner Andrews

Kids’ idea of fairness can be remarkably flexible. Ask one how to divide the last portion of the cake: He’ll get a big chunk, and his little sister will get a sliver. But ask him how to divide the dirty dishes, and he’ll let his sister wash them all!

They are supposed to grow out of this over time. Sometimes I have my doubts. Look at the County Council, for instance.

Their division of the “tourist tax” money shows the kid-with-cake problem. The County Council just de-appointed the West Volusia agency members because they were not doing enough to promote the Ocean Center.

The Ocean Center has been a white elephant from the time it was built. We have had a parade of consultants marching through there telling the County what to do with it. It might be difficult to implement my suggestion in that department.

The Ocean Center has sucked up tons of money. While we pretend that this white elephant is self-supporting, it surreptitiously slurps up money as “transfers” from other funds. It’ll bring in a little over $2 million in revenue; we will “transfer” nearly $4 million in taxes. We ignore the fact that it is beachside property off the tax rolls; our taxes have to cover its share.

Normally, we divide the tourist tax geographically. East Volusia taxes would go feed the elephant, and West Volusia taxes would be spent for the west. However, the $4 million shortfall means we need a better scheme.

The County Council has therefore come up with a better way to divide the chore of feeding the elephant. They have adopted a rather novel view of “West Volusia” and where its taxes should go.

Your idea of West Volusia might divide the county mostly along I-4, or mostly along the Palmetto Curtain power-line right of way through the middle of the county. East on that side, West on this side.

When it comes time for collecting taxes, that is about right. For spending, however, the County uses a more expansive view of West Volusia: everything this side of A1A.

The West Volusia tourist-tax agency failed to understand that expansive definition of West Volusia. They were spending the money over here. The County Council sacked them for failing to support the Ocean Center.

The County Council wanted a more “unified approach” to paying Ocean Center debt. That means siphoning money west-to-east, unifying the county.

You may question the wisdom of not bulldozing the Ocean Center. But at least you know what the County Council thinks is a fair way to allocate the tax burden of supporting it — collect in the west, spend in the east, that’s the way to share.

— Andrews is a DeLand-area attorney and a longtime government critic. For purposes of the column, he finds it convenient that there is so much government to criticize.

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