Financing of the seemingly endless road construction projects on Burnt Store Road is having a devastating impact on the finances of Lee and Charlotte counties. As the projects drag on, with no end in sight, the councils in both counties have been exploring various options for funding the work. The widening of the road to meet hurricane evacuation standards is at the top of the Project Priority List of the Joint Charlotte County-Punta Gorda and Lee County Bi-lateral Affiliates Division (“BAD”), Transportation Regional Incentive Program (“TRIP”).
Various options have been explored including increasing the mill rate, higher sales and use taxes and finally toll stations. Following is a brief overview of the deliberations to date.
Mill Rate Increase – An increase to the seasonal non-homesteaders mill rate was a popular first choice of several council members. As Commissioner Manuela Whackamolé so succinctly expressed it “it only makes sense that seasonal residents who only use the county’s services half the year should pay twice as much in property taxes, and of course they don’t have a vote so can’t do anything about it. The founding fathers had it all wrong with that concept of no taxation without representation”.
Sales and Use Tax – Citizens in Lee County voted in November 2018, by a margin of 51.51%, to increase the county sales tax by ½ percent to 6.5%. Commissioner Horst Saddlebag stated that, “we snuck that one through under the guise of increased school spending, which is popular in all parts of the county, we might not be so lucky with road funding focused on the soggy northwest quadrant.” Treasurer Skip Skinflint suggested that “setting up a control point at the BSM Commercial Gate to assess sales and use tax on each courier delivery truck would be a surefire way to raise substantial additional revenue”.
Toll Road – The final option, toll booths on Burnt Store Road, was by far the most popular alternative examined, especially when combined with the proposed new “courier tax”. Commissioners stated that they would not have to get voter approval, it would be a focused method of “user pay”, and with the use of SunPass technology would barely slow the current break-neck pace of traffic flow, except of course for the couriers who would be required to demonstrate at the booths proof of tax payments on all deliveries.
When Lee and Charlotte county representatives met to discuss implementation of the Toll Road plan they were all very concerned that the toll booths not serve to divert shoppers in one direction or the other. Bart Barnstormer of Charlotte County also emphasized that “the plan must ensure that those fat cats down in Burnt Store Marina have no way to dodge the tolls”. To that end, the toll booths in the preliminary drawings are positioned in the southbound lanes between Cape Horn and Zemel Road in Charlotte County and in the northbound lanes just north of Durden Parkway in Lee County. Access controls will be added to the entrances to Burnt Store Village. Dollar General and the Trading Post anticipate a boom in business and are considering building expansions. Some Burnt Store Marina residents may never leave the campus again.
New Toll Booths for Burnt Store Road
Chair of the BAD TRIP joint committee Loof Lirpa stated that he felt that the residents of Burnt Store Road had a great sense of humor and would welcome this constructive change, scheduled for April 1, 2021.
Graham is pleased to be able to carry on the late Bob Bottell’s tradition of spoofing residents on April Fools’ Day. Please, please do not call your County or HOA officials complaining about this hoax. First published in the April 1, 2019 issue of the Admiral’s Point Newsletter and then revised and republished in the April 1, 2020 BSM Beacon.