On Thursday, Kim Carney, the county commissioner who was instrumental in thwarting the plan to raise sales taxes to fund a comprehensive beach-protection strategy, presented the Flagler Beach City Commission with five options that the city could select from in order to save its own beach.
“We are here to help in any way we can, and it will require a team effort,” Carney stated.
Flagler Beach would have to charge its citizens a new tax or fee under four of the possibilities. The fifth alternative, which Carney opposed, would have the city backing a 2026 referendum to increase the sales tax—exactly the option that the County Commission might have voted to adopt.
Some commissioners were confused by the peculiar dynamic generated by the options and Carney’s presence with high-ranking county administrative personnel. The four proposals had not been written or approved by the County Commission. It had not instructed the county administration to provide them, nor had it assigned Carney to Flagler Beach.
The ambiguity reflects the confusion in county beach policy when the sales tax plan was defeated. The county administration was not largely responsible for this confusion, and Carney’s presence in the city contributed to it because her commission did not have an official stamp. She gave a brief speech to the city commission. She allowed Jorge Salinas, the Deputy County Administrator, bring the water.
Which of these possibilities has your board decided to proceed with? Salinas was asked by Commissioner Eric Cooley.
Salinas ducked. Cooley made another attempt. The board instructed you to come to Flagler Beach and claim that everyone was responsible for paying for that part. Did your board agree on that? Cooley inquired.
As a group, the board has not recommended that you visit Flagler Beach. According to Salinas, this is what the crew has determined and wanted to share with you. He omitted to mention that Carney, not the board, was pushing for this. If you would want to join, these are the numbers. Since we do not have all the financing, these are the figures that are required to finish this project.
Is it accurate to say that our city is now bearing the entire cost of our beach renovation for reach one in our reach two portion? The question was posed by Mayor Patti King, who is known for getting right to the point. The two beach segments that are entirely or partially within the city are Reach 1 and Reach 2.
She was right. After first avoiding the subject, Deputy County Administrator Jorge Salinas stated: “From the Flagler Beach perspective, you must contribute to providing the funding for the portions that you are responsible [for].”
Since lately, Cooley has struggled to square the presentation or choices with the county, declining to support the sales-tax strategy that had garnered the approval of Flagler Beach and numerous other local authorities. He was frigid and wary of the possibilities.
This program, in my opinion, is rapidly becoming unfair and disproportionate as it does not correspond with who is on the beach. Cooley reiterated his claim that Palm Coast residents make up the bulk of beachgoers at Flagler Beach, which is supported by county tourism statistics. A fair and egalitarian proposal has my support. I can support it, but I can’t support a scheme that doesn’t fairly distribute the costs of who is really using the beach.
Commissioners Scott Spradley and Rick Belhumeur both stated that, aside from the sales tax plan, the options were not truly options when presented with them. According to Spradley, “there is one option and four that fall by the wayside, and the one option is the referendum.”
Sean Moylan, the deputy county attorney, finally addressed the issue as confusion mounted, providing a concise summary and placing it back on Carney, who had also been instrumental in Moylan’s decision to withdraw from consideration for the position of county attorney. Moylan informed the commissioners that we didn’t want you to make any choices or to favor one course of action over another. The whole thing is in the air. This was Commissioner Carney’s first outreach. In the county commission, this is her district. We wanted to have a preliminary discussion. Nothing has been decided. We are also having trouble figuring out how to pay for the other portions of our coastline. And things are really up in the air since we have been having trouble with this for a number of budget cycles.
For the upcoming year, he added, the county managed to scrape together slightly over $8 million in beach-management funding. Given that there is no longer a sales tax, Salinas’ presentation listed additional requirements. The city would have to provide $1.387 million annually to cover its portion of beach administration and upkeep as a result of those requirements.
Moylan went on, “We weren’t coming here to ambush you, surprise you, or anything.” This is merely a preliminary attempt to contact you. Remember that the Army Corps and the non-federal tapers on either side have completed the projects in your town thus far without receiving paid from the locals. The federal government, various state government agencies, and some local funds have all been involved. And I believe that everyone agrees that it has been a huge success thus far. He stated that additional beach rehabilitation is planned both north and south of the Army Corps zone, once more without Flagler Beach’s assistance. “We’re just brainstorming,” he remarked, referring to the $1.387 million.
Andy Dance, the chair of the commission, had been watching the meeting on YouTube. They ought to have begun with Shawn and concluded with Sean, as Sean aptly put it. However, Dance stated that the county’s upcoming beach management task is made more difficult by the sales tax vote’s failure. Going future, it will be much more challenging every year.
He stated that the purpose of the presentation was to reach out to the municipalities and show them the options available to them, with a focus on Flagler Beach, rather than to be overbearing from the commission.
A public speaker to the commission emphasized that the beach is not only a city benefit but also a countywide one. Carney was asked by another to clarify her opposition to the half-cent sales tax.
