One member of the City Council has stepped up to protect the city’s residents from a rapidly growing tax burden being heaped on them at all levels of government.
Council Member Leanna Cumber told Eye on Jacksonville she will file a bill seeking to rescind the local option gas tax enacted earlier this year by the council at the mayor’s urging.
The earlier bill doubled the local tax on gasoline from 6-cents to 12-cents.
The additional tax is not scheduled to go into effect until Jan. 1. Cumber said she will ask that the bill be handled as an emergency in order to get it passed before then.
However, because of the way the earlier bill was worded, it may be necessary to collect the tax for one year, even if it is rescinded, she said. That would bring in an estimated $9.6 million.
Her rationale for undoing the gas tax is that it is not needed. With the federal government printing money and sending it in all directions from Washington, Jacksonville is certain to get plenty of the largesse.
The $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” bill that was enacted by Congress earlier this year designates $150 billion for Florida in funds distributed by formula and even more will come as discretionary funds are spread around.
As Florida’s largest city it is certain Jacksonville will get a large portion of the money, Cumber said.
Jacksonville is getting hundreds of millions of federal dollars for renovation of the hapless Skyway Express. The federal government provided most of the money to build the little-used contraption and always is eager to reward failure.
Cumber was one of those who voted against the tax when it passed 14-5.
Her proposal follows an announcement by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Jacksonville this week that he will seek an abatement of the state tax on gasoline for six months of 25 cents per gallon.
