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County opts for slight cut in tax rate

The marginal reduction in a property tax bill may be offset by increases for schools and other taxes.

By BILL VARIAN
Published July 21, 2006

TAMPA - Hillsborough Commissioner Brian Blair asked a rhetorical question of the few citizens who showed for a public hearing Thursday.

They'd come to speak about how the county plans to spend their tax dollars next year.

With county coffers overflowing due to a steep rise in property values, he wanted to know whether they would like more of that money returned to them in the form of a steep tax rate cut, to spend for themselves, or have government spend it for them.

"These are not our dollars," Blair then told other commissioners. "These are windfall dollars that are above and beyond our needs."

The ploy didn't work as well as he had hoped, as Blair secured a bigger tax-rate reduction than what was proposed, but not the "meaningful" one he had sought.

His initial proposal to cut the tax rate by a mill had already shrunk to a half-mill, based on the tepid response from other commissioners. By the end of Thursday's public hearing, he was settling for a reduction of three-tenths of a mill, and that is still tentative.

But it was the boldest move of the budget season.

The reduction would mean that a person who owns a house valued at $225,000 house and claims a $25,000 homestead exemption would pay about $60 less than if the tax rate stayed the same.

In reality, that same homeowner will get a tax increase of about $75, when school district and other taxes are included.

Blair probably wasn't helped by the fact that only a handful of people showed up to speak at the hearing. He likely gained a fan of one, Tampa retiree Roy Rood, who asked the board for a one-mill tax rate cut.

"I just wish it was possible that you would cut enough so that we could get a tax decrease," Rood said.

Instead, commissioners tentatively approved a slate of pet projects, from $10-million in additional money for roadwork to a $5-million park dedicated to emergency workers killed on duty. They will have to winnow that list by next Thursday to meet the three-tenths tax rate cut Blair is advocating.

They will set the millage July 27. Two more public hearings are scheduled, Sept. 12 and 27, before the spending plan is approved.

The backdrop to Blair's proposal includes skyrocketing property values and citizens who are getting socked with record costs for homeowners insurance, gas and other consumer products.

Hillsborough County property values soared 22 percent last year. That means the county has $145-million more to spend in property tax dollars compared to last year, as part of a $3.8-billion spending proposal.

County Administrator Pat Bean had already suggested reducing the tax rate by a tenth of a mill, which would extend a County Commission tradition now more than decade long of slightly lowering the tax rate each year. She had forecast additional spending this year due to rising costs and the need to hire more deputies, firefighters and other employees, plus having to deal with rising construction and insurance costs. There were millions more added at the last minute for unexpected costs, particularly for the Sheriff's Office.

That left $31.2-million for commissioners to haggle over for their pet projects.

All the commissioners came away with something, though there will be tinkering still. But Commissioner Kathy Castor, one of just two Democrats on the seven-member board, saw her causes take the biggest hits.

The $2-million she requested to boost enrollment in Head Start preschool programs for poor children was cut in half. And $3.3-million she championed for a program to aid the homeless failed to win support.

Castor said both were particularly lamentable given that other commissioners voted to dedicate nearly $100-million in tourist taxes to renovate pro sports venues in Tampa the day before.

"This board targeted children and people who are least able to advocate for themselves," she said. "I think their values and priorities are out of whack."

[Last modified July 21, 2006, 06:38:14]