Mosquito Control: Why should you care?

As most know, 2022 is an election year, and we citizens are called to vote on everything from who is going to represent us in Congress and in the Senate to which individuals will represent us in seemingly obscure and often misunderstood local elections.

One of the most obscure and least understood races will be the Anastasia Mosquito Control District (AMCD) Board of Commissioners elections. On the ballot this year, there will be two countywide races for commissioners to serve of the AMCD Board. With that in mind, I decided to pen this piece to help you understand why you should care about mosquito control and how it impacts you as a citizen.

If I have done my job right, at the end of this article you will have developed some interest in this obscure government agency and in researching the candidates that will be running for the two seats that are up for election.

What is the Anastasia Mosquito Control District (AMCD)?

AMCD was chartered in 1948 to serve Anastasia Island. In the beginning, AMCD controlled mosquitoes only on a small portion of Anastasia Island (17 square miles), and now AMCD services the entire 609 square miles of St. Johns County.

From 1989 to 2005, AMCD worked out of four stations spaced throughout the county. In 2005, the decision was made to centralize operations. AMCD bought a large plot of land (25 acres) off Agricultural Center Drive, located in the center of the county with easy access to I-95. Construction of the new facility off Agricultural Center Drive started in 2013. In 2016, all operations moved to the current facility on EOC Drive off Agricultural Center Drive.

In 2018, the AMCD Board unanimously approved the building of a “Mosquito Museum,” later changed to “Education Center,” to teach people about mosquito control and vector-borne diseases. The budget for the project was initially $3 million but has escalated since then without much information shared with county citizens about the decision to build the facility or the cost overruns.

Who governs the AMCD?

The AMCD, a special district, was established under the authority of Florida statutes (Florida Statute 388.0101). Under the statute the legislative intent for the district reads:

“It is declared to be the public policy of this state to achieve and maintain such levels of arthropod control as will protect human health and safety and foster the quality of life of the people, promote the economic development of the state, and facilitate the enjoyment of its natural attractions by reducing the number of pestiferous and disease-carrying arthropods. It is further declared to be the policy of the state to conduct arthropod control in a manner consistent with protection of the environmental and ecological integrity of all lands and waters throughout the state.”

AMCD is an independent agency governed by a board comprised of commissioners, elected by their constituents to govern the district operations and who operate independently of the St. Johns County Board of Commissioners. This independence from other local governing bodies provides the AMCD board members with a high degree of autonomy to fulfill the mission of the district.

While this independence allows AMCD to operate without the interest, influence and authority of other local governmental bodies, it is such independence that makes it vital for St. Johns County citizens to understand the key role they play in ensuring that the district remains true to its mission, and that it does not expand beyond their mission without citizen approval.

Funding

AMCD largely operates on property taxes levied on St. Johns County property owners. They are to develop financial reserves to ensure continuity of vital quality of life services during economic down-turns and/or disaster.

In the 2014-2015 fiscal year, AMCD approved an increase in the millage from 0.1312 to 0.2450 to help fund a new “Mosquito Museum.” The ball started to roll on this in 2020 but was restarted in earnest in 2021 post-pandemic. The museum with its giant mosquito metal sculpture is slated to open in the summer of 2022.

Top 3 things to demand of AMCD Commissioners

• Fiscally Responsibility: As a special district, AMCD’s Board of Commissioners is to be fiscally responsible and committed to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars through responsible and lean budget decision-marking. AMCD should be spending less on general and administrative expenses than do their counterparts, cities and counties.
• Accountability: AMCD commissioners are elected by voters in St. Johns County. Therefore, their performance or lack thereof will be assessed by voters when these officials come forth for reelection.
• Transparency: The AMCD is limited in how they can spend taxpayer dollars and is required to be transparent in its financial processes. AMCD is also subject to Florida's Sunshine, public records, financial disclosure and ethics laws. Citizens should demand that proper notice (not just on their little-known website) is provided to citizens about the proposed annual budget and all projects that will involve significant expenditures by the district. Additionally, projects such as the “Mosquito Museum” should have received sufficient public notice and debate and consideration should have been given to making this a referendum item, instead of leaving it only to board approval.

(Resources: amcdsjc.org and leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0388/0388.html.)