The county's schools face a $2.1-billion deficit without new revenue streams flowing.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published August 26, 2003
TAMPA - As elected leaders grapple with Hillsborough's growing population and its impact on everything from roads to schools, a new study offers grim news:
The county and its school district could be $2.1-billion in the hole by 2025 without higher taxes and impact fees.
With 341,000 additional residents expected to flood Hillsborough in the next 22 years, the County Commission and School Board need to find new revenue sources and raise existing ones, according to the study, prepared for the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission.
On Monday, the Planning Commission agreed to forward the report, completed by the consulting firm Tischler & Associates, to county and school officials for review.
"If we don't at some time in the near future make a decision about impact fees and how we'll pay for growth, existing residents' quality of life will continue to decline," said Robert Hunter, executive director of the Planning Commission, an independent body whose 10 members represent the county's four local governments.
"We will not be able to keep up with projects that need to be done," he said.
The report says the county's revenue base depends too heavily on property taxes, grants and state education dollars.
Consultants recommend that existing impact fees for transportation, schools, fire and parks be raised. The report also encourages new impact fees for libraries, law enforcement and government facilities.
The county's current impact fees add up to $2,071 per average three-bedroom home.
That's less than half of the $5,692 in fees charged by Palm Beach County, which is similar in size to Hillsborough. It's also less than fees charged in neighboring Pasco, Manatee and Polk counties.
On Monday, representatives of the home building industry cautioned that higher impact fees could drive up home prices and push buyers to neighboring counties, or make home ownership impossible for some.
Hillsborough's fees have not been raised since 1989.
A recent Planning Commission estimate found that increasing Hillsborough's fees to match counties of similar size could generate millions. For instance, fees of $7,293 per home could bring in $417-million more over the next 10 years.
The biggest chunk of that revenue - $241-million - would come through raising the transportation impact fee from $1,472 per home to $4,488.
On Wednesday, commissioners will hold a workshop on the county's transportation needs and how to pay for them.
"There's no question that the impact fees haven't kept up with the costs of transportation," said County Commissioner Pat Frank.
"We have to raise the impact fees up to a rate that pays for these projects, because we don't want to have a $38-billion deficit like California."
Frank worries a majority of commissioners will see the Planning Commission report and side with developers, some of whom wield considerable influence.
"People complain about the growth pattern of Brandon and the whole stress on infrastructure down there," she said. "Well, we're going to get that elsewhere if we don't act soon."
The report also cites various taxes and other charges - public service and franchise fees, an additional local gas tax - as revenue sources to consider.
Schools appear poised to feel the most stress if more money isn't found.
By 2025, the southwest Hillsborough area from Palm River south to Ruskin is projected to gain 42,000 housing units - demanding 17 additional schools for a projected 23,000 children.
Superintendent Earl Lennard said he is worried the district will not be able to afford the growth.
Nearly $139-million in Classrooms First money, set aside by the state for school construction and renovations, already is spent or budgeted for use in the next few years.
The district gets a portion of the half-cent sales tax county voters approved in 1996. Last year, the tax generated about $20 million for the district - less than the cost of a single middle school or high school.
"In the past five years, we have been able to build a lot of schools and just about alleviate the overcrowded schools," Lennard said. "But growth continues, and when those dollars run out, we will not have that source.
"We need another source of revenues, or we'll find ourselves where we were in 1996, with 1,800 portables."
The Tischler report cost roughly $90,000, and includes a program that will allow the Planning Commission to identify the costs of specific developments.
For example, the commission staff could determine the transportation and other costs related to a 2,000-home development in Apollo Beach. The program will be ready by early next year, Hunter said.
