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Crowding task force eases into agenda
By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published November 8, 2005
TAMPA - A panel of builders, parents and government officials met Monday to discuss what they call an urgent issue: Hillsborough County school crowding.
Yet task force members vowed they would go slow in making recommendations for easing the classroom crunch - even if it meant missing a deadline - during their inaugural meeting at the University of South Florida's Downtown Center.
"If it looks like we need more time, we just let it be known that we need to extend it," said County Commissioner Tom Scott, who along with School Board member Jack Lamb is the co-chairman of the 16-member task force.
"We appreciate that," Lamb replied. "Because we all know where that timeline came from."
The timeline came from county commissioners. Last month, they voted to create a task force to draft a plan to close a $364-million deficit in the district's five-year facility construction budget. Task force members were told to consider a sales tax and higher impact fees and make a recommendation to commissioners by year's end.
But on Monday, task force members did little to erase the notion that the task force was a delay tactic. Much of the discussion was spent on what exactly the task force was meant to do.
Cliff Roberts, a Randall Middle School parent, said the task force needed to analyze the district's spending before considering any revenue sources.
Others wanted to calculate the formula for impact fees, but Bob Hunter, the executive director of the county's planning commission, said that strayed from the original mission of the task force.
Scott disagreed.
"Everything is on the table," he said.
No conclusions were reached Monday, and that's the way board members liked it.
"It's a huge task to come up with these answers," said Eric Isenbergh, president of Premier Design Homes of Florida Inc. "To me, this is a fact-finding mission."
--Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com
[Last modified November 8, 2005, 02:15:36]
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