Majority of Duval voters oppose gas tax, support plan to phase-out septic tanks

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A survey of Duval County’s registered voters, submitted by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, found the majority of respondents oppose a bill to increase Jacksonville’s local option gas tax from 6 cents to 12 cents.

The bill would provide funding for road and transportation improvements. Of those who took part in the survey, 58% said they were either strongly or somewhat against the bill.

Specifically, when respondents were asked about redistributing the funds released by the gas tax hike to the Jacksonville septic tank exit, 68% said they either agreed strongly or somewhat.

RELATED: City Works On New Laws To Replace More Septic Pits

According to the city, 65,000 septic tanks need replacing across Jacksonville.

“This is a bit of a difficult situation,” said Dr. Michael Binder, Associate Professor of Political Science at the UNF. “The invoices are structured so that the septic tank plan. depends on resources released from the local option gas tax, but the data shows that voters want the improvements without the additional gas tax. “

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Respondents were also asked to amend a proposal to reallocate funds from the JTA Skyway improvements to work on the Emerald Trail, a 30-mile urban trail that will connect the Brooklyn neighborhood via LaVilla.

This would reduce the total amount for the skyway from $ 379 million to $ 229 million.

Of those surveyed, 34% said no money should be spent on improving the Skyway, 21% said less than $ 190 million, and 21% said they were $ 229 million.

On a similar question about the Emerald Trail, 54% said at least $ 150 million should be allocated to fund the trail, 23% said more should be spent. 26 percent said it should be less than $ 150 million, while another 20 percent said they had no money at all.

Apart from the bills, respondents were asked to remove Confederate statues from public spaces. A total of 51% said they were either strong or somewhat supportive of it, while 49% said they were either strong or somewhat against it.

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They were also asked if they would like to rename the Duval County public schools, which are currently named after Confederate soldiers. Of those surveyed, 52% said they were strong or somewhat supportive of it, while 48% said they were either strong or against it.

When it comes to “The No. 1 Problem in Jacksonville,” crime is again at the top at an overwhelming 32%. This is followed by the improvement of the inner city (13%) and the economy / employment (11%)

The poll polled 1,263 Duval County registered voters May 11-16.

Copyright 2021 by WJXT News4Jax – All rights reserved.

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