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Letter to the editor

New Clearwter budget eliminates 60 jobs, cuts services

The City Council also approved a reduction in the millage rate.

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published September 26, 2007

Just months after passing last year's annual budget, Clearwater leaders formed a task force of residents to comb through the annual spending plan.

Then officials continued looking for more ways to slice spending, even calling for a hiring freeze that affected almost every department but police and fire.

After a series of tough budget sessions where city leaders cut close to $4-million in spending to meet state-mandated tax cuts, the City Council on Thursday signed off on its annual budget for 2007-08.

The $398-million spending plan, which takes effect Oct. 1, cuts about 60 full-time jobs, consolidates the beach library and recreation center, reduces library operating hours and eliminates some landscaping initiatives.

The council also signed off on a new millage rate, reducing it by 10.2 percent to 4.6777 mills in 2008 from 5.2088 mills in 2007 - just enough to meet the state Legislature's mandate to roll back total property tax collections about 7 percent. Under the new rate, a resident who owns a home with an assessed value of $150,000 and a $25,000 homestead exemption will pay $585 in city taxes in 2008. The owner of a home with that value in 2007 is paying $651 this year.

But city officials say the budget trimming isn't over, especially if voters in January approve a proposed super homestead exemption, which would result in even more property tax cuts.

"That's going to clearly set the path for what the next step will be," Mayor Frank Hibbard said.

"We've got to be cognizant of anything new we build and how it will impact future budgets," he said, adding that he doesn't expect any new buildings or full-time jobs to be added in the upcoming year.

City Manager Bill Horne said if voters in January approve more tax cuts, Clearwater will probably have to reduce spending by another $3.5-million. That means targeting more jobs, recreation centers and libraries.

City leaders say they don't expect to create another 12-member budget task force right now because they are still researching a number of suggestions that members provided earlier this year. For example, they want to study the city's policy allowing police officers to take home squad cars rather than rotating them through the shifts.

Even if voters in January don't sign off on another tax break, Hibbard thinks the Legislature will come up with another way to slash property taxes. "Any way you slice it," he said, "there are more changes to come."

[Last modified September 25, 2007, 21:22:42]