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Week in review

By Times Staff Writer
Published August 7, 2005

SUBURBS SHORTED IN BUS SERVICE? An analysis presented at Monday's board meeting of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority suggests that Tampa residents benefit more from bus service than those outside the city. The study, which Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair requested two months ago, shows that while county residents living outside Tampa pay nearly 62 percent of the taxes collected by the agency, the areas they live in get back only 38 percent in services. Meanwhile Tampa, where just 36 percent of HARTline's property taxes originate, gets 61 percent of overall bus service.

Fellow commissioner and HARTline board member Kathy Castor said Blair was misreading the numbers, "You can't look at this analysis in a vacuum," Castor said. "The major employment centers are in Tampa. The downtown, the airport, the University of South Florida, the hospital. The commuters are coming into the city for the jobs." In the coming weeks, Blair said he will consider how to remedy what he calls an inequity. He said one way to go is to put a measure on the 2006 ballot that, if approved, would eliminate the taxes that county residents pay HARTline, which is about $100 for a $200,000 home without a homestead exemption.

Ray Miller, HARTline's executive director, said the agency is already taking steps to expand service into the county. On Sept. 7, the board will consider adding express bus routes to Brandon and Fishhawk Ranch in Lithia. Other routes to Sun City Center and New Tampa are also being considered.

DEPUTY FIRED AT: Someone fired a single bullet into the trunk of a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office patrol car Tuesday morning as a deputy sat behind the wheel, writing a ticket in a busy Carrollwood neighborhood. No one was injured, and detectives don't know who fired the weapon or from where, said sheriff's spokeswoman Detective Lisa Haber. About 8:30 a.m., Deputy Timothy Craig conducted a routine traffic stop along Orange Grove Drive, just south of W Fletcher Avenue. He pulled over Gladys Porrata for driving with an expired tag. Haber said that six to seven minutes into the traffic stop, Deputy Craig heard a loud noise and felt his car "shake." He got out and noticed the bullet hole in the right passenger side of the trunk, just below the vehicle's identification number. No vehicles passed the deputy during the traffic stop, and Haber said there was no reason to think Craig was a target for any specific reason. Even after the shooting, Haber said, Craig still gave Porrata a ticket.

[Last modified August 6, 2005, 10:03:05]