Tax rate may stay same, but bills will still increase
The proposed county budget leaves tax rates flat, but increased property values mean Pinellas residents will face higher tax bills anyway.
By WILL VAN SANT, Times Staff Writer
Published July 7, 2005
CLEARWATER - Pinellas County residents will be spared any hike to the county tax rate under a spending plan officials proposed Wednesday.
Despite rates remaining flat, most residents should expect higher tax bills because of rising property values.
Property values in Pinellas spiked 14.6 percent from last year to this, fed largely by hot housing markets in coastal towns. The income has allowed administrators to forgo any increase to the countywide property tax rate or the additional rate charged to residents in unincorporated areas.
It is the third year that officials have proposed holding tax rates steady.
County Administrator Steve Spratt's preliminary 2006 budget of $1.758-billion is nearly 13 percent higher than the county's current spending plan of $1.55-billion. An expanded Sheriff's Office and the need to provide health care to a growing number of the poor and uninsured account for much of the increase.
Also playing a role are capital project expenses, which rose 21 percent this year to $484-million. Officials said several projects had moved from the planning to the construction stage, which accounts for the rise.
Under the spending plan, residents countywide will continue to pay about $6.80 on every $1,000 of property value. The additional tax paid by residents in unincorporated areas would hold at about $2.36 per $1,000.
Cities in Pinellas charge their own property tax rate.
So, a person who owns a $125,000 home in unincorporated Pinellas County and who takes a $25,000 homestead exemption would still pay about $916 in property tax.
Spratt has preached shrewd money management since becoming administrator at the end of 2001, and by all accounts department heads have responded by proposing conservative budgets. The efficiencies of the past few years, coupled with rising property tax revenue, have allowed the county to increase the level of service it provides, Spratt said, particularly in unincorporated Pinellas.
Included in the proposed budget is money for 203 new positions. Among them are 11 new school crossing guards, four animal control officers, three code enforcement officers and $382,000 to pay for five Sheriff's Office personnel who will track sexual offenders and predators.
Some $557,000 is set aside to double the number of early voting sites in the county to 20. Another $250,000 will be put toward arts and culture grants.
Forty-nine new positions are proposed in the Sheriff's Office, both sworn officers and support workers, at a cost of $259,000. That's in addition to the $4.9-million that will pay for 107 new positions at a medical building being built at the county jail.
With more poor and uninsured residents in need of medical help, $3.5-million is set aside to subsidize hospitals, the county's medical services plan and efforts at preventive care.
Earlier this month, the county was forced to take $3.3-million from reserves to cover a jump in the number of uninsured residents seeking help through Pinellas' subsidized health plan.
"I would be the first to admit that it's probably not near the amount of public money that needs to go the problem," Spratt said of what has been allocated for the medically needy.
More than $100-million in reserve funds is included in the spending plan, much to Spratt's satisfaction. That fat reserve cushion, greater than it has ever been in the past, could shore up services in the event of a future drop in tax revenue or come in handy should an unforeseen expenditure arise.
The County Commission will hold public hearings on the proposed budget Sept. 6 and 20. The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
