TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Local Voters Spoke Loudly - And Shouldn't Keep Quiet Now

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

Pasco County voters spoke loudly last week in joining other Floridians - 64 percent of voters altogether - to give the thumbs-up to constitutional Amendment 1, the property tax reduction measure.

But now's not the time simply to sit back and wait for the savings to appear on your next tax bill.

Voters have a duty to weigh in on what should be cut from county and municipal budgets, and elected officials charged with implementing the reductions have a duty to ask them.

The reality could be ugly: reduced government services, new and higher user fees, increased permitting charges and loss of jobs. Successfully reducing property taxes will take a collaborative effort. Both residents and elected officials need to get started quickly.

For Pasco County government, which serves the vast majority of the county, the amendment's passage is expected to mean cuts totaling about $16 million in the next budget and could reach $124 million during the next five years.

These anticipated reductions will come on top of the nearly $16 million commissioners cut in the current budget after a statewide mandate from the Legislature. It was a painstaking process, and the next round, as well as future ones, will be, too.

The great uncertainty the amendment's passage brings - especially if residents capitalize on the portability of the savings they have accumulated under the Save Our Homes provision - makes it imperative that commissioners seek residents' input.

It could be helpful to survey residents by including questionnaires in their water bills or on the county's Web site.

Residents should attend as many public hearings and workshops on this issue as possible. Commissioners also should go to the public by holding town hall-style meetings in their districts.

Identifying where to cut shouldn't be entirely on commissioners. Residents who supported Amendment 1 shouldn't forget that the county's property tax rate has been lowered each of the last seven budgets. During this time, commissioners have done a good job providing services and building parks and fire stations, among other efforts.

But when services are cut and projects delayed, residents are the first to complain, which is why they should help decide what they can live without. Commissioners should give them the opportunity, and the quicker the better.

Once new cuts are in place, soul-searching may be in order for all. If residents don't like the changes or reductions, they shouldn't hesitate to tell commissioners they're willing to pay to restore them, if that's the case. And commissioners should have the political will to comply - even if it means raising the millage rate.

True, the required supermajority of voters throughout the state approved the amendment, and property taxes must be lowered in Pasco and the state's 66 other counties. But there's nothing in the amendment that prohibits governments from raising millage rates to combat or compensate for losses if there is a need.

These deliberations, as painful as they will be, are part of home rule. Commissioners and residents now have to work together more than ever by setting aside political and philosophical differences to decide what's best for the county they all call home.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT