Anti-Tax Group to Scott: Don't OK SunRail Without Public Vote

SunRail opponents are calling on Gov. Rick Scott to require a voter referendum on the controversial commuter train before releasing any tax dollars to fund the project.

Doug Guetzloe, founder and chairman of Ax the Tax, issued the demand Thursday afternoon, just hours before Scott is expected to announce a decision on the planned 61-mile rail line.

"The cost to taxpayers is well in the billions and billions with no end in sight for this train from nowhere to nowhere," Guetzloe said.

"If Governor Scott approves this boondoggle absent any voter approval, he'll seal his fate with conservative anti-tax voters in Florida.If Rick abandons the conservative voters in Florida, he's a one-termer," Guetzloe said from Orlando.

The Florida TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, for which Guetzloe serves as a consultant, endorsed Scott in the 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary over then-Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Ax the Tax has campaigned against several mass-transit projects, most recently defeating via referendum a light-rail project in Hillsborough County last November. The group led successful voter opposition to an Orange County light-rail venture in 1997.

Beth Dillaha, head of Veto SunRail, has said she, too, wants a public referendum on the proposed rail line.

An Orlando Sentinel poll on Thursday showed 86 percent of respondents oppose SunRail.