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Commission backs property tax cut

If voters approve the Penny for Pasco sales tax increase, a half-mill county property tax cut for the next decade would come from the school district.

DADE CITY - They agree on the concept. Now the details are up for debate.

The County Commission supported a plan Tuesday to guarantee a half-mill property tax rate cut for 10 years if voters approve the Penny for Pasco, a one-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase.

The property tax cut would come from the school district, the county's main partner in the Penny for Pasco initiative. The county would then reimburse the school district for half of the lost property tax revenue each year - roughly $3.4-million, based on this year's tax base. The School Board on Tuesday night approved the idea.

"I think this says what it needs to say to the public," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said as she looked over the proposed ballot language.

Still unclear, however, is exactly how the reimbursement would work - and whether it would cut into the cities' share of the sales tax revenue.

The Penny for Pasco proposal goes to voters March 9. It would raise about $31-million a year, with the county and the school district each getting 45 percent. The cities would divide the remaining 10 percent.

Commissioner Peter Altman wants to reimburse the school district first with Penny for Pasco revenue, then split the rest along the 45-45-10 lines. But the cities might want to split the revenue first, then let the county reimburse the school district with its share, Commissioner Ted Schrader said.

"I don't want to be forcing something on the municipalities," Schrader said at the commission meeting at the Historic Courthouse in Dade City.

County Attorney Robert Sumner said he would bring the issue to the cities "and see how big a fight we're going to have." Commissioners will decide at their Nov. 4 meeting how to handle the reimbursement.

"I think we're underselling (the cities') willingness to be fair about this," Altman said.

"If we really want this thing to pass," he added, "let's look at this thing right: We're all going to share it equally."

A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable property value. The owner of a $100,000 home, after taking the $25,000 homestead exemption, would save about $37.50 a year under the proposed property tax rate cut.

The new plan sidesteps the concerns raised two weeks ago by Altman and Commissioner Steve Simon.

Under the old plan, the school district and the county would each provide a quarter-mill property tax cut for the 10-year life of the Penny for Pasco. But Altman and Simon balked at the idea of freezing the county's tax rate for the next decade, saying it would tie the hands of future county commissions.

The new plan gives commissioners what they wanted. They can guarantee an overall property tax cut if Penny for Pasco is approved, yet they keep the flexibility to raise the county's millage rate if necessary.

Even so, the deal involves creative math that could confuse voters, Commissioner Pat Mulieri said.

At her urging, the commission will delay voting on the ballot language until Nov. 4, giving residents time to review the proposal.

"I just want the public to know what is happening because it's very confusing," Mulieri said.

In other news Tuesday, commissioners decided not to overhaul the sign ordinance as a group of business owners had suggested.

The Save Our Signs Coalition, represented by attorney Lauralee Westine, asked the county last week to allow the use of banners and temporary signs year-round without a permit, as well as balloons and portable changeable copy signs for 90 days without a permit.

The group also wanted larger signs on walls and windows, and a grandfather clause that covers all existing signs, not just the ones that went up with the required permits.

Mulieri said the group's suggestions would be "a giant step backward."

"We talked about tweaking, not torpedoing" the sign ordinance, she said.