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Your mailbox could hold a tax increase next week
By LISA GREENE
© St. Petersburg Times, That envelope in your mailbox most likely isn't good news. It's your tax notice. "I think the first reaction when they look at it is going to be, "Wow,' " said County Commissioner Bob Stewart. Property values have gone up. Pinellas has set aside $15-million to buy new state-mandated voting machines. Some cities need new firefighters, others want new crosswalks. On Monday, the county property appraiser's office will send out more than 500,000 of its annual "Truth in Millage" notices. The notices tell you what the county thinks your property is worth and how much you could pay in taxes. Since county property values increased about 9 percent last year, your property probably is worth more. And Pinellas County is proposing a tax increase, as are some cities and fire districts. The county School Board has proposed an 0.7 percent increase. So in most of the county, tax rates are slated to go up. Taxpayers have a ray of hope. At this point, public officials can lower proposed rates but not raise them. Pinellas County proposes a 4.8 percent rate increase, but most commissioners hope to lower it. "The commission is not solid behind that budget," said Stewart, one of three commissioners who voted against the rate increase. "I'm convinced there are ways in which we can reduce that budget." The county's proposed increase isn't the largest. That honor goes to the city of Belleair Beach, which proposed a 32 percent rate increase. Officials there said the city needs to increase employee pay, add two crosswalks and pay for initial designs on a proposed City Hall. Residents in nearby Belleair Shore or Tarpon Springs or South Pasadena fire districts are luckier. Their tax rates will drop enough to offset any county tax increase. And low-income senior citizens in St. Petersburg, St. Pete Beach and Dunedin can qualify this year for a new property tax exemption. Others who want their assessed values to be lower must do it the old-fashioned way: appeal. Noreen Petrosky said that people usually question their assessments because they didn't know how much property values in their area were increasing, or because they bought a new home. When homes change hands, the state-mandated "Save Our Homes" tax cap lifts, allowing tax assessments to skyrocket the year the home changes hands, said the property appraiser employee. "Their Realtors are not really explaining it to these people," she said. "They think, "I can handle a $1,200 tax bill, and then they get it and it's $2,200. It's like, "Whoa! What happened?"' Last year, such explanations weren't good enough for 1,349 property owners who appealed their assessments. The appraiser's office lowered some people's values, and 104 who took their case to the Value Adjustment Board won. But the vast majority were stuck with their tax bill.
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
