A bill that would have allowed Monroe County voters to decide whether they want to raise sales tax by a penny for sea level rise mitigation projects never took hold this legislative session and has died in the state House of Representatives.
The bill would have allowed local voters to decide on increasing sales tax and could allowed the local government to bond $300 million for sea level rise projects, which will cost billions of dollars in Monroe County. If passed by the voters, the sales tax increase would have given the county greater control over funding and not forced county staff and lobbyist to continually ask the federal and state government for funding for sea level rise mitigation projects.