If ECO2 wants taxpayer money to pay for creating business parks and preserving open space, its leaders will have to come up with a more detailed game plan for spending the money.

Bob Johnson, the Douglas County commissioner whose support is key to the development-and-preservation effort, said he wouldn’t agree to seek a public vote for a 1/4-cent sales tax until members of the ECO2 committee outlined what projects they needed and how much the projects would cost.

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And don’t assume that the proceeds from such a tax estimated at $22 million in a 10-year period should be split 50-50 between business and environmental interests, he said.

Although ECO2 members have pushed for an even split for more than a year, Johnson sees the compromise as little more than a shaky way of addressing the issue in reverse.

It’s simply the wrong way to go, he said.

“It sounds like, ‘Give me the money, and I’ll decide what to buy,'” Johnson said Monday. “When we’re talking about taxpayer money, we need to be much more specific about what we plan to do with the money and what we intend to achieve before we ask for the money to achieve those goals.”

Johnson’s comments came after Monday’s meeting of ECO2, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce committee that has spent two years hammering out a proposal for creating jobs and preserving environmental and historical properties in the area. Johnson didn’t attend the meeting, but he has been invited to attend its next session, July 9.

Without Johnson’s support, committee members know they have little hope of financing an ECO2 plan with tax money. Unless the committee wants to start a petition drive, two of the three county commissioners need to agree to put the tax question on the ballot.

Commissioner Charles Jones is a member of EC02 and supports the plan. Commission Chairman Jere McElhaney opposes the plan especially the idea of increasing taxes and has shown no signs of compromise.

That leaves Johnson to break the gridlock.

“That’s the political reality,” said Kelvin Heck, the committee’s co-chairman and commercial real estate broker. “We’re trying to make sure we can get a plan that works.”

ECO2 members agreed Monday to pursue creation of detailed “vision plans” for spending tax money on development and preservation, including locations and cost estimates for projects.

To address oversight concerns, members also agreed that commissioners should have “veto power” over ECO2’s budget and plans for major projects, should a tax be approved.

But several members cautioned against shifting the 50-50 financial split, hinting that it could erode support from either side.

After the meeting, Johnson shrugged off such concerns and suggested that spending 60 percent on business needs and 40 percent on environmental concerns might be more appropriate. But that won’t be known until the community’s specific needs are established, he said.

Enter the game plan.

“Getting together as a team doesn’t mean everybody gets to play quarterback,” Johnson said. “It means we all take a position that helps the team win, and then we do what we can to make the community better.”