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Ranking the reserves
By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer
While some communities are dipping into their reserves just to pay the bills, one of the smallest towns in Pinellas has saved enough to run the town for six years without charging another penny in taxes. But North Redington Beach doesn't have any immediate plans to cut taxes or write rebate checks to taxpayers. The town plans to spend almost half of its $4-million reserve fund to bury utility lines along the residential streets throughout town. "I've had people suggest, "Why don't you distribute some of that back to the property owners?' " said Mayor Harold Radcliffe. "But we're making an investment in the town." Other beaches are hanging their hopes on promises from the county, which plans to bury utility lines along Gulf Boulevard to improve the beach areas that tourists see. But North Redington Beach plans to supplement the county project by burying all the power lines in its neighborhoods. Within the next couple of years, North Redington Beach will spend $1.8-million to become the first Pinellas community free of utility lines. Nancy Loehr, community relations manager, thinks it might be the first municipality in Florida to accomplish the feat. "It's been something they've talked about for the last seven or eight years," said Nancy Loehr, community relations manager for Florida Power Corp. "I think the economics are working out for them, and the climate seems to be right." Economics have definitely been on North Redington Beach's side. Property values have increased 44 percent in the past five years, thanks to new construction such as the 214-unit Tides Beach Club, a condominium development. In the 1997-98 fiscal year, North Redington Beach generated $182,000 in property taxes. In 2002-03, it anticipates property tax revenues of more than $260,000. Now that much of the town has been redeveloped with high-priced condominiums, Radcliffe said, the community is looking for new ways to boost property values and make North Redington Beach a nice place to live. The town already charges the lowest millage rate of any community in south Pinellas or the gulf beaches. The average home value is one of the highest in the county, while the average municipal tax bill is one of the lowest. "I just feel that rather than cut the taxes back at this time," Radcliffe said, "let's get done with some of the things we've been wanting to do."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Dr. Delay Letters |
