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Hillsborough Budget OK'd; Property Taxes Dip Slightly

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By MIKE SALINERO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

TAMPA - Residents in unincorporated Hillsborough County got a slight reduction in their property taxes Thursday night and the prospect of further reductions next year.

County commissioners approved a $4 billion budget for fiscal year 2009, about 1 percent higher than this year's budget, and adopted a countywide millage rate for unincorporated areas of $10.76 cents per $1,000 in assessed value.

For a $200,000 house with a $50,000 homestead exemption, county taxes would amount to about $1,614. That's a reduction of about $8 from the current tax. The fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

The commission also voted unanimously to ask the state Legislature for permission to further reduce taxes. Commissioner Jim Norman, citing widespread economic pain, has proposed using money saved on road projects for a tax rebate. But state law doesn't allow local governments to rebate tax money.

Norman said that if lawmakers refuse to give Hillsborough and other counties flexibility to rebate unspent tax money, "they've failed."

"If they don't allow this they're not doing their jobs ... to get taxpayers through this crisis," he said.

Norman said he got the idea for a tax rebate when he read that the economic slowdown had pushed more contractors to bid on county road projects, driving construction costs down. The savings on six approved road projects is about $4 million, enough to give the 266,000 homesteaded property owners in the county a tax rebate of about $15 each.

But Norman said the figure will be much higher when other road projects on the drawing board are bid out. He estimated a conservative 7 percent savings between the lowest bids and the engineer's estimate of the cost. Norman said that could make $50 million available for tax relief.

Commissioner Ken Hagan said he opposes the idea, saying the money should go back into road projects. Hagan said project costs often escalate because of change orders or higher right-of-way acquisition costs. However, he voted with the other commissioners to ask the Legislature for the tax rebate authority.

The commissioners made only minor changes to the budget, approving $250,000 for The Florida Aquarium and $26,649 for the Girl Scouts, the same amount previously approved for the Boy Scouts.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached msalinero@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8303.

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