BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — A new survey reveals that residents don’t favor paying Bradford County franchise fees through their utility bills.
The Bradford County Commission has planned a special meeting tonight, Thursday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m. to hear from the public about the proposed fees.
Clay Electric released the survey of 255 Bradford County residents, which included customers of the electric cooperative as well as Florida Power and Light.
As in a past survey, the residents were overwhelmingly opposed.
The survey asked each if they would support paying a franchise fee of 1%, 3% or 6%. Only 20% were in favor of a 1% fee, with 80% opposing. At 3%, support fell to just 14 respondents, or 5.5%, with 94.5% opposing. Only 6 respondents, or 2.35%, were OK with a 6% franchise fee. More than 97% said absolutely not.
Clay Electric also polled 250 members back in 2000 when an electric franchise fee was proposed. Sixty-six percent expressed they were strongly opposed, and only 8% were fully or somewhat supportive of the fee. An even smaller percentage supported a special tax assessment. Others said the county should find another method of raising revenue, while 32% said there should be no additional tax of any kind.
According to a letter Clay Electric sent to its members, they would pay on average an additional $4.26 a month, or $51.12, a year, if the fee negotiated was 3% of their bills. Of course, the higher the bill, the higher the additional fee. The co-op estimates the county would raise approximately $344,000 a year from the fee.
Having raised property taxes to a full 10 mills this year, county commissioners are exploring other ways to raise revenue to fund public services, in particular Bradford County Fire Rescue.
Franchise fees are a way of paying the county/taxpayers back for any cost incurred for the use of public right of way. The county would, in reality, use the revenue to offset the cost of public services. The revenue could also lower the amount of annual special assessments that could be approved to pay for fire rescue.
According to Will Sexton, county attorney, tonight’s meeting at the Bradford County Courthouse will give Clay Electric representatives an opportunity to hear from their members about the proposed fee. FP&L has indicated it would cooperate with the county in negotiating a fee to be added to its customers’ bills. Clay Electric wants to hear from its members first.
Sexton said a similar meeting in Baker County resulted in little feedback, and so Clay Electric agreed to negotiate a fee with that county.
