Property tax rate rollback's delay is a wise move

By JEFF WEBB

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 16, 2000

Measure twice, cut once.

Anyone who has dabbled in carpentry knows the wisdom of that warning.

Perhaps without realizing it, the Hernando County commissioners followed that sage advice just last week when they voted to delay their previously stated intention to trim the property tax rate by .25 mills, or 25 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value. Doing so would have cut about $1-million in revenue from the general fund.

County Administrator Paul McIntosh and Budget Officer George Zoettlein recommended that the commissioners wait until after they had an opportunity to scrutinize the budget during a trio of workshops that begin July 20 and continue on July 24 and July 26. Their reasoning is that the commissioners might find new programs, or existing programs they want to fund better, as each department's spending plan is discussed.

State law stipulates that the commission cannot increase the tax rate after it has been adopted, but it can decrease it. If the commissioners had gone ahead and cut it last week, they would have been locked into it, with no flexibility to change their mind if they decided they needed to spend more.

It was an insightful and cautious move by McIntosh and Zoettlein, and by the three commissioners who supported the measure, Nancy Robinson, Pat Novy and Chris Kingsley.

Less methodical were Commissioners Paul Sullivan and Bobbi Mills, both of whom wanted to adopt the lower millage rate right away. That is not surprising, considering they are both up for re-election this year and facing formidable challenges from within their own party during the primary. They would be pleased to boast about their tax-cutting acumen when they climb up on the campaign stumps in coming weeks, not giving their fellow Republicans an opportunity to point out that they missed a chance to cut taxes, if only by a fraction.

What is surprising is that Democrat Pat Novy, also facing competition in the primary, did not jump on Mills' and Sullivan's anti-tax bandwagon.

But what would the millage decrease really mean to property owners?

For a person who owned a $50,000 home, and had claimed the customary $25,000 homestead tax exemption, it would shave only $6.25 off the property tax bill. However, if the assessment went up slightly on that person's home, it would easily eat up that savings and perhaps still mean paying more. Even if the property assessment did not increase, $6.25 a year is not exactly a windfall.

The tax rate rollback being discussed now is little more than a feel-good gesture. As such, it would make more sense for the commission to take the conservative approach and leave the rate as it is. If revenues increase as anticipated, or even more, the commission will be in the enviable position of putting away some of those savings in the contingency fund, or be able to pump more money into needed programs next year, such as road repair.

The commissioners did well to go slowly and measure twice before cutting. Now it's up to conscientious taxpayers to double check the angles being worked here.

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