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Gas Tax Plan Falls Short With Divided Commission

    A sharply divided Lake County Commission on Tuesday not only declined to enact a five-cent gas tax beginning on January 1, 2026, but also failed to provide specific details on if the issue will be brought to county voters.
    The five-cent gas tax is a state-allowed levy that can be implemented without a referendum, but only by a supermajority vote.  In Lake County, that would mean at least a 4-1 vote of the county commission is required.  On Tuesday, both Leslie Campione and Anthony Sabatini opposed implementing the new tax, Campione wanting residents to decide via referendum, and Sabatini opposed to what he described as a regressive tax on working class residents.
    If implemented, the tax is believed to be able to raise $12 million per year for road resurfacing projects, around 80% of which county officials said would go toward the county’s worst roads, many in neighborhoods.
    The vote came after representatives of area municipalities, chambers of commerce, and business owners voiced support of the new tax to the commission.
    “I would ask the voters,” Campione said, pushing back against the board majority of Kirby Smith, Sean Parks, and Tim Morris, all of whom made arguments that the new tax would equitably raise funds from all users of roads, not just from Lake County residents.
    “It puts the burden on people who use the roads,” Smith said.
    “I think it is the right decision,” Parks said, adding that he would be willing to couple the vote with a meeting set later on Tuesday night, where he said the commissioners could vote to lower the ad valorem tax rate in the county to offset the potential increased gas costs to Lake County residents.
    “I’m not going to vote to enact a new tax,” Campione said before the final vote.
It is unknown what comes next, as the issue would have to be brought back before the commission should a referendum be proposed.  What is known is that the gas tax won’t be raised in the coming months.