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Today's Letters: Population stalls; so should extra tax

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published March 7, 2007

Penny for Pinellas

On March 13, the voters will get to decide whether to accept a 1-cent additional county sales tax from 2010 to 2020, the "Penny for Pinellas." This tax was created to fund infrastructure improvements. The county has budgeted $200,000 of taxpayer money toward promoting the passage of this tax again. County officials defend this expenditure as an "informational campaign," but the county offers only pro arguments for the tax and no cons.

If you dig deep enough into the PinellasCounty.org Web site into the 2007 budget section, you will see that the county's population has increased less than 1 percent per year between 2000 and 2006, yet countywide tax collections have gone from $225.5-million to $407.4-million over the same period - a whopping 80 percent increase. Recent trends from school enrollments and moving companies actually point to a decrease in population for 2007 in our area. Do we really need to continue to expand our infrastructure?

Adding new buildings and parks means adding more employees and maintenance costs. These are ongoing expenses. The county and cities have been on a happy spending spree the last five years with Penny funds and property tax receipts. Allowing these county and city governments to continue to party with Penny money will just create more maintenance bills in future years at a time when we are already losing small businesses and part-time residents to excessive taxes. I'm voting no this time.

Kelly Cisarik, Indian Rocks Beach

Taxes already too high

While I have supported the Penny for Pinellas in the past, I will not be supporting it this year. The influx of capital into the state and county coffers has increased several times over in recent years from increased assessments and taxes on businesses, homeowners and apartment owners. Now we have a proposal to alleviate the property tax burden by increasing the state sales tax.

Why would I want to add an extra penny to my tax burden that is already too high.

Mark Higgins, St. Petersburg

A destructive tax

I am so ashamed to say I voted for this before, and deeply regretted it. One thing that was done with this money was desecrate Fossil Park in St. Petersburg. All the beautiful, large shade trees were chopped down around the interior walkway to put in a tiny playground that is rarely used.

I used to go to Fossil Park every day and walk my dogs; now all the shade is gone and there is a small playground that sits empty. Also, there were already three baseball fields, and trees were cut down to add one more field. I have never, ever seen all four fields being used.

I was sickened to see them chopping down all the old trees and so was everyone else who walked their pets at the park. I can tell you that on March 13 I will vote NO to extend this destructive tax.

P. Ericson, St. Petersburg

House for city manager turns up on Penny wish list Feb. 21

Padding budget is wrong

How irresponsible can the City Commission in Indian Rocks Beach get regarding the extension of the Penny for Pinellas tax (Commissioner Jose Coppen excluded)? The city put in for a house for the city manager of Indian Rocks Beach. Now the mayor is quoted as saying, "A lot of the items are ridiculous," and R.B. Johnson is quoted as saying, "Holy cow ... I don't think this is a good idea. It would be a waste of money."

Does anyone here take responsibility for commission actions? These actions to pad the budget probably happen in other communities. That is why we should say no to the Penny for Pinellas tax extension. This has become a repository for pork barrel projects. Taxes are already too high, and it is not needed.

Victor Wood, Indian Rocks Beach

Can they speak Spanish or Cuban or whatever? Feb. 24

Official should resign

How embarrassing! I am a small business owner in Pinellas Park with many wonderful Vietnamese, Hispanic and African-American customers as well as many other Americans.

I moved to Pinellas Park with my parents in 1958 and have endured many years of others in Tampa Bay referring to Pinellas Park as a "redneck" community. The past several years have seen Pinellas Park develop into a thriving middle class community where I am proud to say that I have my business.

Council member Patricia Bailey-Snook's recent remarks about our Tampa neighbors are unforgivable for a person in her position. She was elected to represent everyone in Pinellas Park, even those from other countries or nationalities.

Her attitude certainly does not reflect those of Mayor Bill Mischler or our other council members and their efforts to make Pinellas Park a wonderful place to live and work.

Is it beyond consideration to believe that her voting record may be impacted by the individual who happens to appear before her, in particular "one of those Spanish or Cuban or whatever" people. I would like to believe that is not the case, but her comments certainly create such an appearance. Such open contempt and bigotry should not be tolerated. Council member Bailey-Snook should be asked to resign.

Ray Hoeneisn, St. Petersburg

Visitors praise county

As RV travelers with no "tow vehicle," we want to express our appreciation for the outstanding transportation services we have enjoyed in Pinellas County two years in a row.

Timely, convenient schedules and routes combined with courteous drivers and helpful information kiosks have enabled us to visit a number of places and events (notably John's Pass Village and the Dunedin Craft Show) that we normally would not have been able to take in. Thanks for making our vacations here more memorable.

Jack and Mary Lou Westbrook, Mount Pleasant, Mich.

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[Last modified March 7, 2007, 07:34:00]