Columns

Of brown lawns, the Phillies and taxes

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published June 3, 2007

The Florida League of Cities recently gave advice to its members on how to fight a big cut in property taxes.

The league suggested that cities warn the public about things such as:

How it will affect the hours the swimming pool is open; will it mean closing the baseball field or recreation center early on weekends; will the city no longer be able to fund the city festival, or provide grants to the children's museum; will it affect public safety, etc.

To the same end, the Florida Association of Counties produced a 21-page "toolkit" for its members. The toolkit says counties should target public health, mental health, recreation and arts groups:

It is important to identify any of these agencies that you will be forced to cut, and to enlist them as third-party advocates for the value of county government.

This brings us to the topics of brown lawns and the Philadelphia Phillies.

First, brown lawns.

Despite drought, wildfires and watering restrictions, the city of St. Petersburg is warning people that they have brown or bare lawns.

As my colleague Michael Kruse reported Friday, residents are receiving letters noting they are in violation of Chapter 16, Sec. 16-1064 d (2), which says owners of one- and two-family properties must maintain a "herbaceous layer of sod" - that means grass, Kruse notes - "or ground cover plant material."

Now, here is one way to cut the budget right off the bat. I would put the same guy who goes around telling people not to water their lawns in charge of fining them for having brown ones.

See? Efficiency!

Next, the Phillies.

As my colleague Mike Donila reports, Clearwater - which has threatened to close its Police Department, four of five libraries and more than half of its recreation centers - is sending its mayor and top officials at public expense to Philadelphia. The mayor will throw out the first pitch at a Phillies game, since the team has its spring training and a minor league affiliate here.

Now, I am not against code enforcement and have nothing against the Phillies. But I would think that before making the public suffer the brunt of tax cuts, the government should look at itself first.

In Hillsborough County last week, the county administrator produced a detailed plan for cutting spending.

Pat Bean's list contained many cuts to public services. But her list begins with the government itself, with sections headlined "efficiencies" and "organization-wide" cuts. In one scenario, she even whacks half the budget for the county's TV station. Now, that's the spirit!

The Legislature will begin a special session on June 12 to debate this tax cut.

This leads to my dilemma:

I can't decide whether to attend that special session - or the annual convention of the Florida Association of Counties, which starts the same day at SeaWorld.

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Currently on TroxBlog: more on brown lawns and the Phillies, Elijah Dukes, the governor's Israel trip, this week's news quiz and reader comments. Just click on the "Blogs" link from www.tampabay.com, or type in the address blogs.tampabay.com.

[Last modified June 2, 2007, 23:31:12]