County Commission Puts $100M Conservation Land Bond on the November Ballot

St. Johns County voters will decide in November whether to let the county borrow up to $100 million to buy conservation land, after commissioners voted 3-2 on Tuesday, Aug. 18, to put the question on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. If it passes, the bonds would be repaid through a property tax levy of up to 0.15 mills, roughly $15 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value, and the county would finally have real money to move on land that is now routinely lost to development.

Right now it does not. The county's Land Acquisition and Management Program, known as LAMP, runs on $500,000 a year. That is not enough to compete for a single significant parcel, which is why the LAMP board keeps watching properties it has ranked as top priorities go to builders instead. One of them sold last month to a homebuilder for $12 million, as we reported.

What it would cost a household

A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value. The cap in the ballot measure is 0.15 mills, and the bonds would mature within 20 years of each issuance.

Estimate	Annual cost
Per $100,000 of taxable value	$15
Home assessed at $268,394 after exemptions	About $40 ($3.35 a month)
Countywide household average (Trust for Public Land estimate)	About $47

Renters and anyone who does not pay property taxes would not pay it directly. The $3.35-a-month figure comes from the Matanzas Riverkeeper, which backed the measure; the $47 average was offered at the meeting by Pegeen Hanrahan, associate director of conservation finance for the Trust for Public Land, which helped the county put the measure together.

A yes vote does not automatically raise your bill

This is the part that got the most explaining at the dais. Approval would give the county the authority to issue general obligation bonds, not an instant tax increase. County Budget Director Wade Schroeder described it as borrowing with a promise to repay over time with interest: a conservation deal comes forward, the county goes to the bond market, and the millage, or some slice of it, covers the debt and interest.

Bonds are also not the only option. The county could put impact fees, grants or other sources toward purchases instead. And every acquisition would still be limited to willing sellers and vetted by the LAMP board before it reaches the commission, Commissioner Ann Taylor said.

Supporters argue the local money is a lever, not a ceiling. There are 25 voter-authorized county land conservation programs in Florida, and advocates told commissioners that $100 million raised locally could pull in regional, state and federal matches plus private donations to reach $300 million or more. Matanzas Riverkeeper Jen Lomberk framed it as a way to take back some control after a run of state preemptions, including Senate Bill 180, that have limited how tightly local governments can regulate development.

The 3-2 split

Chair Clay Murphy and Commissioners Krista Joseph and Ann Taylor voted to send it to voters. Taylor said plainly that she was torn on the timing but that nobody knows when the right time would be.

Commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst voted no, and neither argued against conservation itself. Their objection was the calendar. Amendment 3, the statewide measure asking voters to cut their property taxes, is on the same ballot. Whitehurst said he supports having more money available to protect land but questioned whether the county is overtaxing residents. Arnold put it more bluntly, saying the county is asking people to cut their taxes and raise their taxes on the same ballot on the same day.

What happens next

Staff now has to finalize the ballot language and get it certified in time for the November election, a turnaround commissioners acknowledged will be tight but said is doable. Nothing in the measure names specific properties, so voters will be deciding on the borrowing authority and the tax cap, not a list of parcels. Which land gets bought, and in what order, would go through the LAMP board in public meetings after the vote. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, with vote-by-mail and early voting dates to be set by the Supervisor of Elections.

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Header photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)