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13. COUNTY ATTORNEY MATTERS <br />13.A. REQUEST BOARD DIRECTION OF LOCAL OPTION GAS TAX <br />Marian Fell, Senior Assistant County Attorney, sought Board direction on the Local <br />Option Gas Taxes; provided background on the request; and reminded the Board that there are <br />three categories of local option gas taxes as follow: <br />(1) the original Six Cents, which the County levied in 1985. The full amount of those six <br />cents was levied and we are required to share it with the municipalities and the money is <br />used for transportation expenditures as provided by law; <br />(2) the ELMS Five Cents. The County does not currently levy any portion of the ELMS <br />five cents. If the County were to levy that we would have to share the money with the <br />municipalities and the money can be used for transportation expenditures linked to the <br />Capital Improvement Element of the approved Comprehensive Plan; and <br />(3) the additional penny called the Ninth Cent. Indian River County does not levy the <br />ninth cent currently. The monies from this are used for transportation expenditures and <br />those are the same expenditures and uses as the original six cents. The key difference is <br />the County does not have to share any portion of the revenue from the ninth cent. <br />Attorney Fell told the Board that this item was before them because there was a short <br />timeframe if the Board wishes to adopt an ordinance to levy either the ELMS five cents or the <br />ninth cent. The ordinance would have to be adopted before July 1, 2009, and the revenue would <br />start to come in the following January 1, 2010. <br />Budget Director Jason Brown talked about the fiscal effects. He said the Capital <br />Improvement Element, over the last several years, has had an increase in the gas tax in the fourth <br />year, as that has been the plan, to balance the road projects Capital Improvement Element (CIE) <br />for several years. He reminded the Board of its instructions to staff months ago to gather gas <br />price data from the surrounding counties, which they have done. He displayed a chart showing <br />May 19, 2009 36 <br />