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Residents can get their 1 cent in
By SHEELA RAMAN
Published September 20, 2006
As a civil engineer, Mike Ryle knows that roads don't last forever. And as a resident of Pinellas for 49 years, Ryle says the county has needs that property taxes alone cannot cover. That's why Ryle, 55, of Largo went Monday to the Indian Rocks Beach Civic Auditorium to support extending the Penny for Pinellas sales tax. The meeting was the first of four where county officials will seek public opinions on the proposed extension, which goes to voters on March 13. On Monday, people who came to the meeting put pennies in one of two jars to give county officials an idea of whether they favored renewing the tax. Early on, at least, most of the pennies went to the jar for extending the tax. Ryle said he favored using the penny for roads and parks. But when he saw that half a billion dollars might go for jail improvements over the next decade, he said he thought that was a bit much. Still, Ryle and several other residents mentioned the appeal of getting non-Pinellas residents to help fund big capital improvement projects. Many participants Monday indicated that they wanted to see the penny spent on improving stormwater drainage. Kelly Cisarik, 41, of Indian Rocks Beach said the sales tax revenue would come in handy, because she fears property tax values will drop. The tax is collected on the first $5,000 of any one purchase, excluding necessities. If extended from 2010 to 2020, the tax could generate $1.9-billion.
[Last modified September 19, 2006, 23:07:24]
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