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Letter to the editor

Land grab may come with price

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published June 1, 2005

LEALMAN - Fire commissioners have sued Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg in an effort to regain almost $300,000 in property taxes lost in annexations.

In the complaint, commissioners allege that both cities annexed property worth millions inside the boundaries of the Lealman Fire District, but neither city assumed the responsibility to provide the fire response to those properties.

That left Lealman as first responder, commissioners say. And according to the commission's reading of state law, those cities should pay Lealman to continue providing first response service to those annexed lands.

Commissioners want the amount of property taxes Lealman would have collected had the properties not been annexed. That is about $34,200 for St. Petersburg and about $262,900 for Pinellas Park.

"The cities are always the ones promoting fairness and equity. This seems to be a prime example of fairness and equity," Lealman fire commissioner John Frank said Monday. "All we need is a couple of checks."

Pinellas Park council member Ed Taylor said, "I wish them the best of luck."

Taylor said he is unsure whether the allegations in the complaint are true, but he is sure that "our attorneys will best advise the city on what direction we ought to go. It could be interesting."

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker could not be reached for comment.

Annexation has long been a contentious issue in unincorporated Lealman. The area stretches between St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park from just east of Interstate 275 to Park Street. The town of Kenneth City splits Lealman in two.

Lealman activists have lobbied county and state officials to stop annexations into the area, saying the repeated incursions have cut the tax base and placed an unfair burden on those who are left supporting the fire district. Property taxes that go to support the Lealman Fire Department are some of the highest in the county.

This year, fire commissioners decided to act. They sent letters to St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park and Seminole saying they would sue unless those cities returned about $1.5-million in property taxes gained through annexations.

Seminole was able to wriggle out of the suit, Frank said, because its annexation into the area took place before the effective date of a state law requiring notice of the annexations.

[Last modified June 1, 2005, 00:38:18]