Once again, the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners seems to be reaching deeper into the wallets of its citizens. From increased fees to higher taxes, the pattern is becoming hard to ignore: whether the county needs it or not, the reflex of the BOCC is to raise costs for residents rather than look inward at spending discipline or smarter planning. Even worse, the approach feels punitive. Voters have already made their voices clear by rejecting both a doubling of the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) and the use of Municipal Services Taxing Units (MSTUs). Instead of respecting that decision, the commission appears to be sidestepping the will of the people—shifting the burden onto residents through piecemeal fee hikes and selective charges.
Families across Santa Rosa are already grappling with inflation, higher utility bills, and rising costs of living. Yet, instead of offering relief, the commissioners continue layering on new burdens. These are not incremental increases. As if an 8% property tax hike in FY2024 wasn’t enough, the BOCC is now DOUBLING many of the common usage fees across the county—from community centers to sports fields to public pavilions. Whether it’s steep hikes in hangar rental fees, higher service charges, or inflated rates for public facilities, the common thread is that the financial responsibility is being pushed onto everyday taxpayers without sufficient transparency or accountability.
Even more troubling is the sense that certain groups of residents are being unfairly targeted. Aviation hangar owners, for example, are staring down a 57% increase in rental fees starting in 2026, with plans for yet another 50% hike not long after. This is not a modest adjustment—it is blatant discrimination against one class of users. Those who park outside already see their parking fees flow directly to private FBOs, not the county. Meanwhile, transient aircraft come and go without paying a dime in fees at all. Yet hangar tenants—those who have invested the most in the airport and use it year-round—are singled out to carry the weight of capital improvement costs. Such selective targeting is not only unfair, it undermines trust in county leadership. If improvements are needed, then all who use and benefit from the airport should share in the cost—not just one group deemed easiest to extract from…