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This time, a detailed spending plan will be devised and accompanied by aggressive public relations.
By TIM GRANT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 17, 2002
CARROLLWOOD -- After failing to win a tax increase three years ago, members of the Original Carrollwood special tax board don't want to make the same mistakes twice.
This time around, they've hired a consultant to conduct telephone surveys and host public meetings so that homeowners can help the board determine how much money is needed for improvement projects.
With its aging recreational facilities in need of replacement or repair, Carrollwood's oldest planned community must increase its $300 annual homeowners assessment or risk depleting its reserve funds.
"If the residents are willing to pay more and they want more, we may put a higher (tax increase) on the referendum," said Mickey Jaap, the board treasurer.
Before board members put a referendum on the Sept. 10 ballot, they want homeowners to agree on the amount of an increase and know how the tax money will be spent.
"The board needs to clearly define the goals of the referendum," resident David Goehring said. "I know my neighbors. And unless it's in black and white, they'll vote it down."
The board proposed several ambitious plans in 1999 to renovate the recreation center and make other improvements, but the community voted down a measure that would have funded those projects. If approved, the maximum annual assessment for the 937 homes in Original Carrollwood would have risen from $300 per household to $550 per household. It failed, 340 to 272.
Before and after that vote, board members were criticized for doing a poor job of informing the community exactly how the extra revenue would have been used.
To avoid a repeat of that problem, the board voted this week to hire Dawn Hudson to manage the referendum public relations process. Hudson, who writes the Carrollwood community newsletter and is office manager for the Carrollwood Area Business Association, will be paid $5,000 for her work.
"Getting the vote out is just as important as them understanding the proposal," Hudson told board members. Hudson plans to mail a post card to homeowners a week before the vote reminding them to vote, and she will produce a glossy color brochure.
Hudson also will prepare a report for board members that will help them understand how the homeowners would like their community to look 40 years from now.
"We should get more concerned about how we look compared to places like Westchase," said board member Diane Vanasco. "I can't understand why people don't ask, 'Why is there peeling paint, rotting wood and toilets that won't flush?' "
Jaap suggested the board consider raising the tax $40 every three years for 13 years starting in 2004 to bring it up to $500. The annual tax has been $300 since 1985 while expenses have increased. He said if the tax is not raised, the community will have a budget deficit before long.
The annual assessment is used to maintain the 40-year-old recreation center and other recreational facilities at Scotty Cooper Park, White Sands Beach and the Original Carrollwood Park.
If the residents decide to build a new recreation center instead of repairing the old one, a larger tax increase will be needed.
"Right now we are using up our reserves very quickly," Jaap said, adding that there is $170,000 in the reserve fund. "In three to five years, it will be used up. A tax increase will halt the use of our reserves and allow us to add to it."
- Tim Grant can be reached at 269-5311 or at grant@sptimes.com.