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Politics

City still fine-tuning Penny list

Leaders want to be extra sure proposed projects please voters before the Penny comes up for renewal.

By MIKE DONILA
Published October 13, 2006

CLEARWATER - City leaders are going to take another look at what big-ticket projects they'd like to see funded by the next 10-year Penny for Pinellas sales tax.

On Monday, council members will review a list they approved in June that includes more than 20 items, including fire station renovations, recreation trails, new library technology and streetscape improvements.

The county is about to put together the overall marketing plan and council members say they want to make absolutely sure the list reflects exactly what voters want and what the city needs.

"We'll look at the list again - we look at it constantly to see if it's still right," council member John Doran said. "At the time we approved it, we thought it was a good list, but circumstances change ... and we're always prioritizing to make sure we spend the pennies in the wisest way possible."

The tax, a 1 percent addition to the sales tax, is projected to bring in about $1.9-billion from 2010 to 2020.

Of that amount, the county takes $365-million off the top, then takes half of what's left before letting the cities split the remainder, based on population. Clearwater is set to get $138-million.

Voters approved the first Penny for Pinellas in 1989, and starting in 1990, an additional 1 percent sales tax was placed on goods except groceries and medicines. Only the first $5,000 of any single purchase is taxed.

In 1997, voters approved extending the levy until 2010.

Since then, the county and municipalities have come to rely on the revenue for road, recreation and building projects, and Clearwater has received more than $120-million and expects about $40-million more from the current tax.

The money has paid for capital projects such as Pier 60, the Harborview Center, fire stations, the Main Library and the Memorial Causeway Bridge.

Clearwater's current project list was put together by the council and the city's administration based on comments from the public.

The council has tweaked the list once already, taking some money for streetscape projects and shifting it to Ruth Eckerd Hall, a senior center and traffic calming. Once finalized and approved by voters, however, local governments can change the list only after going through two public hearings.

Mayor Frank Hibbard said the city is talking with St. Petersburg College about a partnership for the East Branch Library. If this goes through, the city could take money for that project - $6.2 million - off the list.

Council member Bill Jonson has long argued for putting stormwater infrastructure projects on the funding list. He wanted to take the money from a portion of funds for downtown streetscape projects.

"I think that will make a stronger list that citizens will be more supportive of," said Jonson, who voted against the list during a council meeting but said he'd vote for it on Election Day.

Hibbard said he's "ready to move money to stormwater" but wants to hear more opinions from residents.

"We can revisit it - I can think of a lot of things off the top of my head that we can revisit," the mayor said.

[Last modified October 13, 2006, 07:07:53]