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Public can play a role in picking Penny projects

Local governments in Pinellas County are making lists and checking them twice, or more. The lists contain proposed projects those governments would do if Pinellas voters approved another 10-year extension of the Penny for Pinellas sales tax.

The one-cent local option sales tax was first approved by voters in 1989 for collection from 1990 to 2000. A 10-year extension was approved by 65 percent of voters in a 1997 referendum.

The penny tax can be used only for capital improvements - things like roads, bridges, parks, public buildings, water treatment facilities, etc. Since the penny tax was approved, city and county governments in Pinellas have come to rely on it to pay for those kinds of projects.

If it weren't for the penny tax, property taxes would have to go up to pay for those improvements, or they could not be built.

The government discussions about proposed projects for the third decade of the tax are going on quietly in most cases.

Government officials know this is not a particularly good time to talk about taxes, with people suffering through high costs of insurance, housing and gasoline. However, a referendum on the penny tax is scheduled for next year, and the planning for it had to commence sometime. The county has asked the cities to submit their lists of proposed projects by Aug. 1.

The project lists have aroused controversy in the past, primarily because the projects were changed after voters approved the tax. Some voters felt betrayed if their local government took a project off the list and built something else instead. Officials are more sensitive now to the need to make the lists as firm as possible, though they warn that the vagaries of nature, rising costs and new priorities of local government officials will sometimes necessitate a change in the penny list.

If you are interested in following along as your community develops its project list, search your city or county Web site or call your city hall or county government offices to find out when those discussions will take place.

Clearwater is one city being especially open about the development of its Penny for Pinellas list. City officials are inviting Clearwater residents to come to a town hall meeting at 6:30 Wednesday at the Clearwater Main Library, 100 N Osceola Ave., to see the city's early ideas for sales tax projects and to suggest other ideas.

Clearwater expects to receive more than $138-million during the third decade of the tax, if it is extended. The city already has some pet projects in mind, including a beach parking garage, expansion and renovation of libraries, a new city hall, updated fire stations, and an aquatics center in Countryside, but is open to hearing residents' other ideas.

[Last modified June 23, 2006, 11:55:09]