Early voting opens Wednesday morning at ten locations around the county, and one of the things on the ballot is the county’s own.
The Supervisor of Elections put the period at eleven days in a release dated Oct. 14. It runs Oct. 21 through Oct. 31. All ten sites are open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and the release says the period “includes two Saturdays and one Sunday.” A registered voter here may use any of the ten, whichever precinct they live in.
Underneath the federal races, the state races and the thirteen Seventh Circuit judge groups the state’s own notice lists for this county, sits a bond question. It asks whether the county may borrow up to $100 million to buy, restore and manage conservation land, and pay the debt with a property tax of up to 0.15 mills. First Coast News reported Monday that the question is on the ballot.
It carried 3/2
The board put it there on Aug. 18.
The minutes give the motion to Commissioner Clay Murphy of District 3, seconded by Commissioner Krista Joseph of District 4, to adopt Resolution No. 2026-276, “calling a referendum to be held at the November 3, 2026, General Election for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of the County the question of whether to issue general obligation bonds and to levy millage for land conservation purposes.” Yea: Murphy, Taylor, Joseph. Nay: Arnold, Whitehurst.
Commissioner Christian Whitehurst of District 1 “expressed gratitude for all the work on this item but said he could not vote in favor of it at this time due to uncertainty about property tax cuts on the ballot, cuts to local conservation funds, and state DOGE scrutiny sending mixed messages,” according to the minutes. Commissioner Sarah Arnold of District 2 “also expressed concerns about asking voters to cut and raise their taxes on the same ballot and questioned the timing.”
Commissioner Ann Taylor of District 5 is recorded as concerned about the timing as well.
She voted yes.
The question as it was written
The backup for item 3 carries the ballot title and the question. The title is “ST. JOHNS COUNTY GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS FOR LAND CONSERVATION TO PROTECT WATER QUALITY.” The question under it reads:
To acquire and manage lands that protect water quality; conserve wildlife habitat, natural areas, farms and forests; provide outdoor recreation, and reduce flooding, shall St. Johns County issue general obligation bonds in one or more series in an aggregate principal amount not exceeding $100 million, maturing within 20 years of each issuance, bearing interest not exceeding legal maximum rates, payable from ad valorem property taxes levied up to 0.15 mills, providing for full public disclosure?
The motion adopted the resolution “as amended,” and the amended text is not in the Clerk’s published backup. The Clerk’s resolutions index serves no resolutions for 2026 at all.
The money would run through the Land Acquisition and Management Program, which the board created by ordinance in 2021. The resolution adds that any part of the levy not needed for debt service may go to “any lawful purpose solely related to the capital projects for which the voted millage is approved, including operations and maintenance.”
What this county has done with questions like it
The Supervisor’s own table of local referenda starts in 1964, and the county has been asked versions of this one before.
A half-cent sales tax “for Historic & Recreational Lands” failed in November 1998. A one-cent sales tax for “Conservation & Transportation” failed in November 2008. The One-Cent Infrastructure Surtax Ordinance failed in November 2022. The two school questions on the 2024 ballot, a half-cent sales tax and one mill for teacher pay, both passed.
The last time this county taxed itself to buy a specific piece of land and said yes is in that table too. June 1985, special election, “Tax for purchase of Rattlesnake Island.” Yes.
The newest row in the table is Nov. 5, 2024. Nothing for this year has been added to it.
Where to go, and one hour that does not match
The ten sites are these.
| Site | Address |
|---|---|
| Ponte Vedra Branch Library | 101 Library Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach |
| The Players Community Senior Center | 175 Landrum Ln., Ponte Vedra Beach |
| Julington Creek Annex | 725 Flora Branch Blvd., St. Johns |
| RiverHouse at RiverTown | 140 Landing St., St. Johns |
| St. Johns County Convention Center | 500 S. Legacy Trail, St. Augustine |
| Supervisor of Elections Office | 4455 Avenue A, Suite 101, St. Augustine |
| Solomon Calhoun Community Center | 1300 Duval St., St. Augustine |
| Southeast Branch Library | 6670 US 1 South, St. Augustine |
| St. Augustine Beach City Hall | 2200 A1A South |
| W.E. Harris Community Center | 400 E. Harris St., Hastings |
Four of them are in St. Augustine and two are in Ponte Vedra Beach. One is in Hastings.
The county release says all ten open at 8. St. Augustine Beach’s own commission agenda of Oct. 5 says the site in its Commission meeting room runs “between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.” The release is the later document by nine days, and section 101.657 leaves the hours at each site to the Supervisor of Elections rather than to a city.
A voter needs photo and signature identification. The release says a voter information card is not one of the things that counts.
Secure ballot intake stations sit inside all ten sites during voting hours. A vote-by-mail ballot has to be back at the Elections Office by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3, and the release says those will not be taken at a polling place on election day.
Loading comments…