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Oldsmar's worth? Oh, $1,032,904,418

That taxable value figure shocked a few officials, but is only a 14.3 percent increase.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published August 12, 2005

OLDSMAR - City officials gasped at a budget work session this week when they learned the year's taxable value was more than $1-billion.

The "B" wasn't a typo.

To be more specific, the 2005 total taxable property value for Oldsmar is $1,032,904,418. Last year's was about $903.6-million, a 14.3 percent increase. The city is expected to get $4.8-million in revenue from the taxable value.

A billion dollars doesn't represent a huge jump, said Ron Anderson, deputy for appraisals. And it's not just Oldsmar, but Tampa Bay in general that's experiencing rising property values.

However, the figure shows how far the 9-square-mile city has come since Ransom Eli Olds founded it in 1913. Just 10 years ago, Oldsmar's taxable value was about $332.7-million.

"R.E. Olds, when he had the vision, he picked up the right land area," said Mayor Jerry Beverland. "We've done a lot of good planning over the years."

The city has been planning the redevelopment of downtown since 1992. Beverland credits two major projects with spurring growth in Oldsmar: The construction of a wastewater treatment plant in 1974 and paving the city streets. He said the city had 8 miles of dirt roads in 1990.

"Once we did that, we weren't a little one-horse town anymore," Beverland said.

This year, the city saw about $21-million in new construction. Gerald Paradise, director of planning and redevelopment, said the development of several hotels on Tampa Road brought a lot of spinoff commercial development, such as restaurants.

Paradise said Oldsmar's location is also a major factor. He calls it the "30-minute city," claiming travelers can go anywhere in the bay area from Oldsmar in 30 minutes, including Tampa, Clearwater, both airports and St. Petersburg - on a good day.

"It's centrally located from a transportation standpoint, and it makes sense for certain activities to be here," Paradise said. The City Council also recently approved the development of Bay Arbor Place, another multiuse facility on the 8-acre site on the northeast corner of Tampa Road and Bay Arbor Boulevard. And the city has plans for a new downtown, including Olds Square, a 500,000-square-foot mix of townhouses, stores and offices to be built next to City Hall.

"Oldsmar has wanted this for a long time, and now for the development to be coming in is gratifying," Paradise said. "They always knew Oldsmar was in the right location. Ransom E. Olds told them that back when he bought the location."

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 00:47:15]