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County rejects proposed fee hike

Commissioners instead might consider taking on debt to deal with flooding problems caused by stormwater runoff.

By BILL VARIAN
Published April 28, 2005

TAMPA - Margaret Simonetti makes a notation on the check she uses to pay her property tax bill to Hillsborough County every year: "Paid under protest."

The 80-year-old north Hillsborough retiree has lived in the same home she and her husband built 43 years ago. She would love to buy a wide-screen television to make up for her failing eyesight, but opts to put food on table instead.

County government needs to adopt similar priorities and not look to hit taxpayers every time there's a want or need, she told Hillsborough commissioners Wednesday night. She was speaking against a proposed stormwater fee hike she said would crimp her fixed income.

"I'm not asking for charity," she said. "I'm just wanting to know how I can stay in my house (if government keeps raising fees)."

Commissioners took the side of Simonetti and almost three dozen other residents during the public hearing Wednesday, unanimously rejecting the fee increase.

Instead, they will look within existing revenue streams to address at least some of the flooding and environmental problems caused by stormwater runoff that were highlighted by last year's hurricanes.

Specifically, commissioners will consider taking on debt to fast-track some flooding fixes, then paying it off with money from the community investment tax starting in 2008.

They also will try to peel off some money from property tax revenue to address the most urgent problems in the interim.

"There are people who wait until the very last day to pay their electric bills," said Commissioner Brian Blair, who led the charge to ax the tax increase. "They can't afford any more taxes.

"We need to tighten our belt," he said to applause from the 50 or so people who turned out for the hearing.

With the vote, commissioners decided not to follow the lead of the city of Tampa, which recently approved a tripling of its stormwater fee to $36 per household.

There was clearly a different mood from the Hillsborough Commission. Chairman Jim Norman signaled from the outset that the board was not likely to approve a fee increase. Only four people spoke in favor of the increase, or at least figuring out some other way to address the problems of flooding and waterway pollution from runoff.

Hillsborough County charges a $12 a home stormwater fee. Rates vary for businesses and offices, based on size. The fee raises about $5-million annually.

But county public works officials say there is about $221-million in work needed beyond what fees raise. At this rate, it would take 63 years to address them all.

So they presented commissioners with proposals to triple or quadruple the stormwater fee in a phased-in fashion.

Several speakers Wednesday said when voters approved the community investment tax in the 1990s, they were told it would help pay for stormwater fixes.

Instead, they said, the money has gone toward museums, the Lowry Park Zoo and other niceties that aren't necessities.

Public Works Director Bob Gordon said the county has spent $64-million from 1997 to 1998 using community investment tax revenue, and $37-million more from other revenue sources.

The commissioners told him to come up with a plan to spend more from the community investment tax.

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 01:17:11]