HomeBrevard County CommissionCommissioner Tobia Seeks to End Access Fees to Municipal Parks and Facilities

Commissioner Tobia Seeks to End Access Fees to Municipal Parks and Facilities

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Brevard County District 3 Commissioner, John Tobia (R) will present a letter to the rest of the County Commission at the November 12th meeting, requesting that all municipalities stop the practice of charging access fees to municipal run facilities and parks.

The letter reads as follows:

Honorable Mayors,

It has come to the Board’s attention that several political subdivisions of the State of Florida within Brevard County engage in the practice of charging their own taxpayers to simply access parks and facilities, such as fees to park their vehicles. The Brevard County Board of County Commissioners find this practice to be abhorrent.

Brevard County stopped engaging in this practice years ago, and there has been a movement at the State level to stop this practice as well. House Bill 183, filed by Rep. Randy Fine, for example, would prohibit charging fees to taxpayers within the Sebastian Inlet Tax District for access to Sebastian Inlet. 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way Viera, Florida 32940 Essentially, such practices are a form of double-taxation.

Taxpayers that live in such taxing districts are the very people paying for the facilities; therefore, they should not be charged to access the fruits of their labor. Taxpayers are hard-working people, and it is incumbent on government to recognize that using their forced allocations to governmental-bodies, only to charge them to access the very facilities they pay for, is the height of absurdity.

As such, the Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida does hereby request that all municipalities, within the boundaries of Brevard County, cease charging access fees at facilities to residents, and their minor children, who reside within the respective taxing district that fund them.

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The item will be presented towards the end of the meeting under New Business Agenda item J3. Members of the public who wish to speak for or against this item are encouraged to attend and will be given 3 minutes to voice their opinion.

If passed by the County Commission, the letter will be signed by the Chair Kristine Isnardi and sent to each municipality’s Mayor and City/Town Council. It will be up to each individual Council to decide on what to do from there.

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This is one of three items Commissioner Tobia is presenting under New Business. Additionally he is presenting item J1. Policy Prohibiting Elected Officials’ Names or District Designation on Specified Signs and Equipment; and item J2. Resolution to Limit Resolutions. Both of these items are an attempt to save the County resources and staff time.

The full agenda for the County Commission meeting can be found here and is streamed live on Space Coast Government Television (SCGTV) at 5pm.

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