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Tampa Palms rejects tax break
By MELIA BOWIE, Times Staff Writer TAMPA PALMS -- Feeling good about a cost-saving move to contract out Tampa Palms' landscaping, some supervisors pitched a tax cut at a preliminary budget meeting Wednesday. It failed. Residents are willing to invest the money to make Tampa Palms beautiful, said homeowners and supervisors elected to the Community Development District board. They just want to make sure a good plan is in place to distribute their dollars. "The residents, when they get together, want this community to look better," said Patty Maney, who will join the board in January. "Let's not put limits on ourselves. Let's spend the money." Some in the audience felt it was short-sighted to reduce taxes before the community determines what revitalization efforts will cost. Tampa Palms opted in March to contract out its landscaping work, at an estimated savings of $300,000 to $350,000. Selling district-owned equipment is expected to garner at least $110,000. The motion they considered Wednesday would have lowered the tax rate from 2.6 mills to 2.5 -- an estimated $50,000 savings, or about $16 per household. "Fifty thousand dollars isn't going to make or break the community," said supervisor Curtis Stokes, who suggested the "symbolic" gesture. "What it will show is we can improve it and (cut costs.)" But the motion failed 3-2. Instead, the board voted to keep the tax rate at 2.6 mills, for a budget of $1.7-million. "I wish we could do it, but I just don't think it's the right time," said Maney, who will assume Stokes' seat on the board as Stokes runs for City Council. "If it meant a lot of dollars in people's pockets, we might view it differently. But unfortunately it does not." The board will take a final vote on the community's budget and tax rate at 6 p.m. Sept. 18.
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From the Times |
