To grow or not to grow? That is the question.
With apologies to Shakespeare, that question seems an appropriate one for the Board of County Commissioners to answer. If you log onto the Clay County web site (www.claycountygov.com [1]) four words scroll across the top of the page - "Growth, Prosperity, Opportunity, Community". Without any further investigation, one would think Clay County government likes, even encourages growth. But growth is a contentious subject among people who live in Clay County.
The population in 1980 was 67,000. Twenty-five years later, 2005, the population had ballooned to 179,000. In 2015, 8 years from now, the population is projected to be 267,000. That's 4 times the number of people in 1980. All I can say is WOW!!!
Most would agree that as the number of people in Clay County has grown rapidly, services and infrastructure have been stretched to the limit, especially roads and schools. Many people say that the county government has not managed growth tightly enough, and haven't figured out how to say "NO" to developers. The state government passed a growth management law that requires infrastructure be in place, or at least funded, as developments come on line. Only time will tell how well concurrency works to meet the demands of growth.
As the region figures out how to fund an outer beltway, the bigger question remains, "to grow or not to grow?" An outer beltway, along with any other transportation improvement, will increase the county's ability to grow. Should the government be encouraging more growth by adding more transportation capacity, which allows more growth to happen? Clay County is proposing a $7,000 transportation impact fee on new residential units, to go along with its $7,000 school impact fee. This is growth paying for itself - taxpayers should be happy. The outer beltway is expected to be a toll road - user funded - taxpayers should be happy.
Then why all the moaning and groaning about growth? No growth (no new residential units), means no impact fee money for schools and roads. Then what - how about a tax increase? Want to hear screaming, try passing a tax increase in these parts. With property tax relief looming, the county's budget is only going to get tighter. If developers want to supply the demand for more growth in Clay County, they better help figure out how to help pay for it. If growth gets stopped, Clay County citizens better prepare for more taxes, or learn to like its crowded schools and roads.
To grow or not to grow? That IS the question.