Southpinellas: Board votes to retain fire tax rate in budget

Board votes to retain fire tax rate in budget

Commissioners also vote to remove an ill member of board and open the application process to the public.

By ANNE LINDBERG

Commissioners also vote to remove an ill member of board and open the application process to the public.

LEALMAN -- Fire commission members gave preliminary approval to a budget that would keep the tax rate the same for Lealman residents and levy no new taxes on area businesses.

Commission members also agreed Monday to remove Bob Carter from the board. Carter, 75, has been plagued by heart problems and was in a critical care facility Monday. He has missed several meetings because of his poor health.

"Bob said before he got really, really sick, he did not want to hamper this board at all," commission head Linda Campbell said. She said Carter had offered to resign from the board at that time.

Commission members hoped he would return, but that hope dwindled Monday.

"He was unconscious Friday," Lealman fire Chief Rick Graham reported. "He was unconscious on a ventilator."

Commission members agreed they would take applications for a member to replace Carter, whose term ends November 2002. Anyone interested should contact the Lealman Fire Department, 526-5650.

Commission members oversee the Lealman Fire District, which covers an area that runs approximately between Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg from I-275 to Park Street.

The $3.68-million fire budget for 2001-02 is about $200,000 less than this year's fire budget and is likely to drop even more before it's finalized toward the end of the summer, Lealman fire Chief Rick Graham said.

"We know it's going to come down. We don't know how much," said Graham, who reiterated that residents' tax rates would not rise.

Businesses also will not be assessed any new taxes for at least the next year. At first, the county said the fire district could collect taxes on business items such as computers and desks, but later reversed its position.

Lealman Fire Commission members think they should be allowed to collect the tax, like all other fire districts except East Lake, and have asked their attorney to pursue the matter. But legal action will not beat the budget deadline for this fiscal year.