Your Penny at Work: A Decade of Progress, 1¢ at a Time
Between 2015 and 2025 L.O.S.T. Investments Reached Nearly Every Community in Escambia County & the City of Pensacola
From small park improvements to neighborhood sidewalks to massive aircraft maintenance hangars at Pensacola International Airport, projects funded by the Local Option Sales Tax (L.O.S.T.) over the past decade have touched nearly every resident and community in both the City of Pensacola and Escambia County.
What's equally impressive is the large number of jobs the 1-cent tax has supported over its 34 years.
A recent study by the University of West Florida Haas Center found the 1-cent retail sales tax – first approved by voters in 1992 – has supported an average of 4,200 local jobs during each decade L.O.S.T. has been on at work for local residents.
To get a better sense of its impressive and far-reaching impact, here's a look at how all $550 million L.O.S.T. revenues collected during just the past decade were spent. The local improvements included were projects funded by the penny between 2015 and 2025.
Escambia County’s share of $442 million
Transportation, Roads & Sidewalks: $153.8 million
Stormwater & Drainage: $62.7 million
Public Facilities: $50.4 million
Sheriff’s Office & Law Enforcement: $48.9 million
Parks & Recreation: $31.5 million
Public Safety & Fire: $22.0 million
Natural Resources & Community Development: $16.4 million
Detention Facilities: $9.7 million
Court Systems: $3.0 million
Other: $43.6 million
City of Pensacola’s share of $108 million
Parks and Recreation's $30.9 million funded community center renovations, including the $8.1 million Bayview Community Center project. Significant investments were also made in the Roger Scott Tennis Center totaling $3.8 million; the Cecil Hunter Pool totaling $1.7 million, and Osceola Golf Course's $1.1 million expenditure on course and clubhouse improvements.
Public Works & Infrastructure's $18.4 million focused on enhancing city-wide paving, street lighting, and sidewalk improvements, with major projects including $1.8 million for Burgess Road and $1.1 million for North Palafox road improvements.
Public Safety's $23.9 million was invested in the Police Department's $15.2 million expenditure for new patrol vehicles and facility upgrades and the Fire Department's $8.7 million for new construction of Fire Station 3 on Summit Boulevard and the acquisition of new fire trucks.
Economic Development's $6.4 millionwent toward supportingthe $5.4 million ST Engineering hangar expansion at Pensacola International Airport and critical Port of Pensacola infrastructure projects $1 million.
