Commission eases off tax rate increase

The increase drops to less than 1 percent. The $1.5-billion budget also slashes funding planned for new voting machines.

By LISA GREENE

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 29, 2001

After a dizzying series of last-minute changes, Pinellas County commissioners managed Tuesday to trim back a proposed increase in the property tax rate.

But opponents said they may have traded one headache for another.

In an unusual divided vote, commissioners voted 4-3 to shrink their final budget by slashing from $12-million to $6.7-million the amount they had set aside to buy new voting machines.

But they made the change without knowing what kind of voting machines they want or how much they will cost.

Early estimates for the more expensive touch-screen machines ranged from $14-million to $21-million, and commissioners' first budget set aside $15-million.

"It was the wrong way to approach it," said Commissioner Bob Stewart. "To reduce it to less than $10-million is going to come back and hit us."

Stewart voted against the final budget, along with Commissioners Susan Latvala and Barbara Sheen Todd.

But Commissioner Ken Welch said the county can't set aside what it doesn't have.

"We have to look at what we can afford," he said.

Welch, Chairman Calvin Harris, and Commissioners John Morroni and Karen Seel voted for the final $1.5-billion budget. They said the county could lease or finance the voting machine purchase. The budget still raises taxes for the third year in a row, but increases the rate less than 1 percent instead of 3.4 percent.

Under the earlier version, the owner of a home with an assessed value of $100,000, and a homestead exemption of $25,000, would have paid $17.23 more in taxes. Under the final version, the same homeowner would pay an extra $3.75.

The same homeowner who lives in unincorporated Pinellas will pay an extra $18.75 because of a separate increase.

The change marked a shift from earlier budget votes, when Seel and Welch joined with Latvala and Todd in supporting the tax rate increase. Stewart had sided with Harris and Morroni because they wanted to spend less.

But that fell apart Tuesday after Stewart suggested cutting $2-million from voting technology, $2-million from the reserve and $3.3-million from the county's general fund.

Some commissioners were unwilling to cut from the general fund. They said they had already trimmed county services, and were unwilling to cut further. They said state-imposed costs, such as the voting machines, are responsible for the budget headache.

Then Welch suggested cutting as much from the voting machines as Stewart wanted to cut from the general fund.

Seel was willing to do that, while Stewart, Latvala and Todd were not.

In the end, commissioners cut $5.3-million from the voting machines and $2-million from the reserves. The last-minute maneuvers surprised commissioners, once known for their unanimous votes. From 1997 to 1999, more than 99 percent of the board's votes were unanimous.

But some commissioners said they welcome the change. "Everybody brings a different viewpoint and a different knowledge base," Seel said. The votes came after several residents spoke out against the increase. Palm Harbor resident Avis Traester told commissioners that in many families, both parents must work just to pay taxes.

"Do we really need more government, or more quality time?" she asked. "More time is spent by the administration on spin than on tightening belts."

The rate increase marks a departure from earlier years of no tax rate increases or even tax rate cuts. The commission raised tax rates for 1994 and 1995, cut them for 1996 and 1997, then kept them the same until the 2000 budget year.

Commissioners have focused this year on unfunded mandates. Staff members counted $85-million worth, from the voting machines to $40-million in state court costs.

But Stewart said the county also has been squeezed by increased services and reduced income. For example, he said, the Penny for Pinellas sales tax has paid for new projects, such as the Pinellas Trail, but not for the cost of operating them. "We now are realizing the solid impact of the Penny for Pinellas," he said. "Now it comes time to pay the piper in terms of maintenance."

State lawmakers told Pinellas and 40 other Florida counties they must buy new voting machines as a result of last year's election debacle. The state will give the county $1.3-million to help cover the costs.

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