Financial future warming for Dade City, official says
The city manager points to a proposed hotel and other possible development that eventually could bolster the tax base.
By CHASE SQUIRES
Published August 27, 2004
DADE CITY - City coffers aren't bulging yet with the same influx of property tax revenue that benefited a booming Zephyrhills, but City Manager Harold Sample on Thursday predicted good things ahead to Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce members.
Sample, speaking to the chamber's economic development committee, said despite some bumps, he believes firmly a developer proposing a 64-room Hampton Inn hotel will continue with his plans and that by this time next year the hotel and a suite of offices could be finished along U.S. 301 on the city's south side.
Atlanta developer Piyush Mulji has submitted an early rendition of his project to City Hall, Sample said. The plan calls for the three-story hotel next door to the KFC franchise along U.S. 301 plus 10,000 square feet of office space on the same lot.
"He's spending a lot of money. I think he's committed," Sample said.
Sample said the city is expecting building plans in less than a month and said Mulji is on track to buy the property in November.
"He wants all this in place before the tourist season next winter," Sample said.
City commissioners have been going back and forth with Mulji over his request for tax breaks to bring his business to town. Commissioners have agreed to refund $10,000 in building permit fees and up to $150,000 in property taxes. But that's not the $350,000 Mulji asked for.
Elsewhere in and around Dade City, other projects are looming, Sample said. An insulation maker is considering a move here; a fruit packing operation is looking at part of the Pasco Beverage property; and county crews appear ready to start work on the long-awaited infrastructure blitz in Tommytown, a multimillion-dollar project that would bring city water and sewer services to that area.
Sample said there are also hints of housing developments north of the city.
Still, all this growth won't immediately ease a $600,000 gap in the city's budget. Much of the growth for now is still outside the city, although annexations are likely, he said. And a project has to be finished and on the tax rolls before the city collects a dime.
