Ponte Vedra Recorder June 25, 201516 Community News
Photos by Jordan E. Ferrell/Special to The Recorder
A county divided: Images from last weeks public hearingSt.
Augustine Tea Party (SATP) members were in attendance at the second
sales
tax hearing on June 16, waving the icono-clast Gadsden fl ag and
passing out but-
tons that read No Tax Hike. The SATP was offi cially formed in
2010. They hold open meetings to the public on every second
and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Village Inn on US 1
North in St. Augustine,
Fla. The SATP members are outspokenly against any sales tax
increase referendum.
County Commissioner Bill McClure, District 3, proved to be the
pivotal vote-holder in both issues up for discussion last week. The
push for a one cent sales tax to appear on a special ballot in
No-vember died on Tuesday night in a special meeting of the Board
of County Commissioners.
McClure gave a presentation regarding his views and opinions on
the one cent split with the St. Johns County School Board, which he
had originally suggested at the June 2 hearing. McClure stressed
how important it was for him to know that a piece of legislation
would pass before he agreed to put it to a vote and he was clearly
opposed to a special election. Commissioner Jay Mor-ris, District
4, challenged the information McClure was presenting in regards to
sales tax increase approval rating and how revenue generated from
the tax would aff ect the general fund and capital improvement
projects.
(Left, top) Former Com-missioner and current Secretary of the
Ponte Vedra Beach Coalition Mary Kohnke spoke Tuesday in support of
the tax. The naysayers who scream about fat in the budget dont know
what theyre talking about, she said during her two minutes of open
public com-ment. Some people dont want to pay for anything. The
rest know better.
(Left, bottom) The pro-posed sales tax increase wasnt the only
issue the tea partiers showed up to protest. They are currently fi
ghting a fi rst amendment issue that deals with designated free
speech zones.
