TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Council To Hold Hearings On South Tampa Dredging Tax

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARK HOLAN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 16, 2007

TAMPA - The city council inched forward Thursday with a proposal to tax waterfront property owners for canal dredging in their South Tampa neighborhoods.

By reaffirming its earlier discussions to hold a public hearing on the special tax at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18, the council kept hope alive for residents who have worked on the plan for two years.

"It's a critical step," said Christine Acosta, co-chairwoman of the pro-tax Tampa Canal Preservation and Restoration group. "This was a very important step to get the ball rolling."

Tax opponents urged the council to kill the proposal, which calls for about 600 West Shore and Davis Islands property owners to pay an estimated $8,000 each to dredge 15 canals. The proposal will have to survive additional council votes before the tax is assessed.

Opponents walked away with a small victory, too, as the council began asking new questions about using a $1.3 million federal grant toward the estimated $6 million to $7.3 million dredging project. Opponents say the grant is targeted to five area estuaries.

Councilman Charlie Miranda said the dredging issue has lingered longer than all U.S. military actions since World War I, including the current war in Iraq. He questioned the limited scope of dredging proposed by city staff and Acosta's group.

"There should be some closure," Miranda said. "But what is the cost to get it done right? I don't like to do things halfway."

Last month, Tampa lawyers John Grandoff and Joseph Cofer began suggesting the Tampa Port Authority should play a role because state law makes the agency responsible for navigable waterways in Hillsborough County.

The port assesses Hillsborough property owners nearly 20 cents for each $1,000 of taxable value, or about $35 on a $200,000 house with a $25,000 homestead exemption. It doesn't matter whether the property is waterfront.

"This is the port authority's problem," Grandoff told the council last month, waving his tax statement. "And I think you should take this problem and lay it delicately on their lap and say, 'You need to fund this,' because we all receive this in the mail every year."

In an interview Thursday, port counsel Charles Klug said the $15 million annual tax revenue benefits the public by creating maritime commerce but wouldn't be enough to dredge and maintain canals and other waterways.

"Why should someone in Plant City have to pay taxes for someone in West Shore to have a dock?" Klug asked.

He said the port deeded the West Shore canals to developers decades ago.

The port requires permits to dredge, fill or build on local submerged lands, including tide-influenced coastal areas. Klug said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Florida Department of Environmental Protection also require permits for most marine work.

"That doesn't mean they are obligated to do the dredging," he said. "We've never dredged residential canals; we don't have that responsibility."

Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (813) 835-2102 or mholan

@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT