The Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the 2023 annual report from the Infrastructure Surtax Advisory Committee, which oversees how revenue from a half-cent sales surtax approved by county voters in 2018 is allocated.

• The report detailed that, since the tax took effect on January 1, 2019, it has generated $91.8 million to fund crucial infrastructure projects – far surpassing original annual revenue projections around $20 million.

“We’re blowing that out of the water. Thankfully in fiscal year 2023, we spent $10.5 million. Since inception, we’ve spent $34.2 million,” Matt Turpin, advisory committee chairman, told commissioners. “We’ve been able to do additional projects that were not on the slate and I believe that we are ahead of schedule.” 

In just over five years, the tax has bankrolled 34 projects, with 13 now complete. Seven major projects are currently under construction, including extensions of College Boulevard and Northern White Point Road and repairs along Canal Drive cracked by Hurricane Sally.

Another 12 projects are in the design phase, two are pending grant applications, and two others – infrastructure improvements to Old Bethel Road and Live Oak Church Road – were recently added to the project list based on recommendations from the advisory committee.

Jason Autrey, the county’s Public Works Director, said the influx of infrastructure funding has been “an absolute game changer,” allowing the county public works department to take on crucial road, sidewalk and infrastructure upgrades that would have previously seemed unlikely.

• “I cannot thank the voters enough. I can’t thank the commission enough for entrusting us with this,” Autrey told commissioners.

The report notes the county has so far spent $34.2 million of the surtax revenue, while collecting $22 million in the most recent fiscal year alone, leaving over $59 million still available even after allocations for all current projects. According to Turpin, $77 million is already committed to future projects.

For Turpin, a big win inside the overall Surtax projects has been the Dirt Road Stabilization projects mainly in the north end of the county. The County maintains a significant number of north County and State Forestry Roads evenly spread between Districts 1 & 3. 

County staff evaluated the efforts to maintain both paved surfaces and dirt surfaces and have found the cost to be approximately three times the cost per mile for dirt roads in comparison to traditionally paved roads. 

A total of $9.4M of Surtax funding has been allocated to dirt road stabilization. Lime-rock stabilization has covered 73.84 miles of dirt roads, and 40.3 miles have been chip-sealed and asphalt stabilized, all using Surtax funding. 

• Approximately 60 additional miles are anticipated to be limerock stabilized by the end of fiscal year 2024, providing a better driving surface for citizens and visitors and helping to prevent sediment from entering our creeks and streams. 

“The dirt-to-road stabilization projects save the county $150,000 per year in maintenance and personnel expenses. It’s a 15% return on investment,” said Turpin. “This is generational change!”

Commissioner Trey Goodwin also specially thanked members of the all-volunteer advisory committee for contributing their time and expertise to ensure accountability.

“You guys give up a lot of your personal and professional time to do that for the citizens of Okaloosa County,” Goodwin said to Turpin. “You’re just like the rest of our citizens out here, and you guys are helping us make sure that money pours back into the community in a very tangible way.”