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Martinez, Iorio stump for Florida Forever

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 14, 2009

TAMPA - It's been an easy concept from the start. Get developers to pay for growth by preserving vast stretches of natural Florida.

It worked for nearly two decades, until the economy went south last year and the state Legislature declined new funding for Florida Forever.

Former Gov. Bob Martinez and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said during a news conference today that funding for the land-buying program needs to be restored.

Speaking from the shoreline of Tampa Bay at Cypress Point Park, the two said they've joined a coalition of like minds to spread the word and lobby legislators.

"We need to go back to where it all started," Martinez said. "Growth paying to protect the environment."

Since he first initiated Preservation 2000 in 1990, the predecessor to Florida Forever, documentary stamp taxes have been used to pay back bonds for the program. "Doc stamp" taxes are paid to the state on the transfer of real estate documents, like deeds.

Legislators agreed to backstop a $250 million bond issue already in the works for the program, but did not approve future funding earlier this year.

"If we're ever going to save the state from over-development, we have to think long term," Iorio said. "We're not supposed to raid funds when we run into a short-term problem. The best time to purchase lands is now."

Just a year ago, Martinez was busy promoting the renewal of Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program, approved by nearly 80 percent of voters.

He and Iorio have joined the new Florida Forever Coalition hoping to get the same result from state legislators.

To date, $7.6 million in Florida Forever funding has gone toward preservation of natural lands in Hillsborough County, Martinez said. "We need $300 million in bonds to go forward" and continue acquiring land.

Funding Florida Forever will also fuel the economy, Martinez said.

By using doc stamp taxes – paid when new development is built – the money then goes to bonds, bond holders use banks, banks fund projects and the economy gets a boost, Martinez said.

"The money will be a multiplier."

The public has to help, said Andrew McLeod, director of government affairs for The Nature Conservancy.

"We're creating committees in high priority counties, including Hillsborough and Pinellas," McLeod said. The program needs $15 million in state revenue to get $300 million in bonds. The bonds would be paid off with future doc stamp tax revenue, he said.

"We need to put a local face on it," McLeod said. "A big part of it will be getting individuals to call their legislators, to get mobilized and tell the stories of the program from over the last 20 years."

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 627-4763.

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