Commentary: Bottom of ballot is top priority for ‘yes’ vote

Michael Dalby
President and CEO, Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce
Michael Dalby is the president and CEO of The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.

For Collier County voters, the last question on the ballot is the most important.

Voters aren’t just being asked to authorize a seven-year, 1-cent, local-option sales surtax to fund necessary infrastructure projects and community priorities. They are also being asked to answer the same question local leaders are often faced with: How should we pay to maintain our paradise?

During discussions and meetings about the proposed sales surtax over the past year, I’ve noted a willingness to complain and point fingers; to pit local organizations and community leaders against one another, and to find a boogeyman or scapegoat. But there have also been times when someone has paused and asked, “What is the best approach to diversifying our tax base and ensuring funds are spent on needed projects in the most efficient manner?”

These questions prompted the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce to become an advocate for a local-option sales surtax. We knew that if we were going to raise issues we needed to help come up with solutions, not point fingers or pass the responsibility to someone else.

Collier County’s dependency on property-based taxes and fees meant many necessary infrastructure projects were deferred during the Great Recession. Although our county has recovered from the impact, the long-term ramifications of the downturn remain. County leaders continue to struggle to fund overdue infrastructure projects, despite the steady uptick in our property values because the hole is too deep.

Collier County’s infrastructure needs have only been exacerbated as our population has grown. While new residents pay taxes and contribute to the cost of public services, it isn’t enough to pay for the projects that were supposed to have been completed before the housing market crashed.

In the time since the recession, new and necessary projects have come to light. We must expand our capacity to treat those with mental health and addiction issues, which directly impacts public safety. Hurricane Irma brought deficiencies to the forefront. Our growing population needs a veterans nursing home. Top-notch workforce training facilities and workforce housing are needed to ensure a healthy economy for years to come.

So where does that leave us? The easy answer is to say, “no new taxes.” But that answer is naïve. We must come together as a county to figure out the best way to pay for Collier’s infrastructure and community needs, and some tax or fee will be necessary.

With one of the lowest tax rates in the state, local leaders can certainly raise property taxes by a relatively small amount to generate the required funds. Or we can borrow money to tackle the county’s to-do list. But that means Collier incurring millions more in debt to cover the cost of the projects.

In both of those scenarios, Collier property owners will bear all the costs. The proposed local-option sales surtax allows visitors and tourists to contribute to infrastructure costs. Naysayers have argued that this would negatively impact small businesses, the economy and tourism. But there is no evidence of that occurring in the 61 Florida counties with a voter-approved local-option sales surtax.

Collier’s proposed local-option sales surtax might be located at the bottom of the ballot, but the question voters are being asked is how to fund our community’s top priorities.

At the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, we believe this time-limited, project-specific, 1-cent sales surtax increase is the most direct and conservative approach to fund our infrastructure and community needs.

With Election Day quickly approaching, we encourage you to get the facts at and please vote “yes” for this important community initiative.

Dalby is president and CEO of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.