|
Transporation finance authority pushed
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News Pam@gulfbreezenews.com
Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino is trying to organize a fourcounty Regional Transportation Finance Authority to help fund future state road projects and wants Santa Rosa County to add its name to the list of participating counties.
He also has asked Okaloosa and Walton Counties to jump aboard.
"The Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) we now have in place is a planning organization, nothing more," Valentino told commissioners at the joint county commission meeting of Escambia and Santa Rosa last week.
"We have been held hostage to the outdated system of funding for roads in our state. This would give us a regional approach to funding and prioritizing road projects for the Panhandle.
"I've had interest from all over the state to join such a finance authority, but I wanted to start with our neighbors first."
Valentino is proposing that road funding through such an RTFA be done through a bonding process, with the Florida Dept. of Transportation using the money it is allotted by the state to acquire bonds to sell and raise money to build roads. A contract between the county where the road is to be built and the DOT would detail how much liability any county commission would agree to if the bonds could not be paid by DOT when they came due.
"We all know whatever we can do to build roads we need to do," Santa Rosa Commission Chair John Broxson of Gulf Breeze said. "This came up at a time when the two counties were wrestling over dollars and what roads really needed to be done.
"But I want to know, what happens if DOT cannot cover some of these bonds? The bonds will have to be paid."
Valentino said contracting with DOT will help assure the counties don't get stuck with paying the entire bond bill if DOT cannot.
"And joining the RTFA does not commit any county to any funding," Valentino siad. "It just gives you a front-row seat to the movie. Meaning you will decide if you want to participate or not participate in any road projects you could not do alone."
Broxson said, "I think we should approve this concept. I believe it is a first step in a thousand mile journey. And the way the state economy is right now, I think government all over Florida will have to start working at the level of new initiatives. So I want this to be placed on our own county commission agenda soon for discussion.
"For one, I would like to be in the front row of this movie theatre when things begin to roll."
| 
