Flagler Airport Chief Roy Sieger Calls Fuel Tax Cut Proposed By Renner Committee “Ridiculous,” and Loses

It’s probably not a good idea for people appearing before legislative committees to advocate for a position by calling “ridiculous” a measure the chairman of that committee is supporting. Especially when the chairman happens to be the advocate’s own representative.

But that’s what Roy Sieger, director of the Flagler County Executive Airport, did Thursday in an appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee, the powerful panel chaired by Paul Renner, the Palm Coast Republican.

The committee was considering one of those sizeable, intractable tax bills introduced by the committee itself–essentially, with Renner’s full support–with many provisions relating to the state’s sales tax, including tax credits for a state education voucher program, generators for nursing homes and assisted living facilities, a 10-day back-to-school tax holiday and a three-day disaster-preparedness tax holiday. Some of the measures are controversial, such as the tax credit for vouchers. Many others are not. But along the way, amendments were introduced.

One in particular drew the opposition of Sieger and many airport directors like him from around the state. It was introduced by Rep. Lawrence McClure, a Plant City Republican, proposing to lower the fuel sales tax from 4.27 cents a gallon to 2.85 cents–and to do so just two years after it was reduced from 6.30 cents. The reduction would cost the transportation trust fund from $8 to $9 million a year. McClure described it as an insignificant reduction in a trust fund of $11 billion, a statement that drew a sharp rebuke from Rep. Joseph Geller, the Daytona Beach Democrat.

“I don’t think $9 million out of the budget every year is insignificant and I don’t see the need for it,” Geller said. “Just for once let’s try to listen to the voices we’ve listened top here.”

It was an odd sight: a staunch Republican like Sieger this time finding his greatest allies among Democrats on the committee as he and others argued against the sales tax reduction. Renner listened, not saying a word.

“I’m here to adamantly oppose the amendment to reduce sales tax to the aviation fuel,” Sieger said. “We use those moneys to do the capital projects at our airports. The Flagler Executive Airport is an example. For the last nine years, we’ve completed $35 million worth of projects.” Among those projects is the much-touted new 5,500-foot, $12.2 million runway the airport just opened, with $2.72 million from the state trust fund. Another $25 million is slated for the airport, Sieger suggested, in the next five years.

“How does this money really get spread out all over with the trust fund? And I will tell you, every penny–it is a federal statute–that every penny from the sales tax has to go back into aviation projects,” Sieger said. “So any reduction to that fuel tax will have a direct correspondence to the projects being done across Florida.” He said the projects are beneficial to economic development, and most of all to airline, airport and passenger safety.

“I believe that reducing this fund would, I really kind of find kind of ridiculous,” he then said, stumbling a bit on the sharp words and recalling how only two years ago the tax had already been reduced in an effort to make it revenue-neutral. “We haven’t even seen what those impacts will actually do right now,” Sieger said. “Now we’re talking about going to $2.85. So I don’t think this is a good idea. We adamantly oppose it.”

His facts and his conclusions solidly rebutted several committee members’ claim that the reduction was intended to make Florida airports “more competitive,” an amorphous claim committee members like Tom leek, the Daytona Beach Republican, could only buttress not with facts but with an appeal to “belief” in the “free-enterprise” system.

“What this boils down to me is straight up protection of a trust fund,” Leek said. “It’s a pot of money, and we want to make sure it stays as big as it can.” He said “this reduces the cost to do business, it will increase the number of competitors we have.” Leek pointed to a handful of state that don’t charge a fuel surtax.

Sieger’s evidence was more grounded: Florida has the 18th-highest fuel tax, he conceded, but the state also has the highest number of “enplanements,” meaning the second-highest number of people boarding planes, in the country–hardly the sort of figure that suggests lack of competitiveness. California is first on that list–and has the highest fuel tax. “So I don’t think there’s a correlation at all to fuel tax,” Sieger said.

Sieger also is a member of the board of directors of the Florida Airport Council, which also opposes the proposal.

“It’s a much greater issue than many of us realized,” Joseph Abruzzo, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said, asking for the amendment to be tabled (and joking about the amendment’s sponsor: “As a new member he doesn’t recognize that his bags will never make it on time for the rest of his life.”)

The tax, another member of the committee said, will benefit only major carriers. “I love our air carriers and fly them all the time but didn’t know they were particularly financially challenged at this point, so why are we reducing the excise tax on fuel?” Geller had asked.

The tax does not apply to non-profits or educational institutions such as Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which use the county airport.

Debate stretched almost an hour. When it was time for the vote on the amendment, Renner was first to say Yea. It passed on partisan lines. Renner’s vote was not a surprise. When the choice is between a tax cut–any tax cut–and Flagler County interests–any interest–Renner will opt for the tax cut. At least that’s been his record so far as he continues to guard-rail his road to the speakership of the House in 2022.

Earlier today the Flagler County administration issued a relatively smiley-faced release about Sieger’s appearance, summarizing the issue. It did not quote Sieger’s judgment of the amendment as “ridiculous.” Nor did it once mention that Renner was chairing the committee. Or that he had voted for the amendment.