The Tampa Port Authority staff will recommend a reduction in its portion of the Hillsborough County property tax for 2010 from $0.195 per $1,000 valuation to $0.1925 per $1,000. ...more

July 18, 2009

The fire district's millage cap will remain at 2.50 after all. Robert Schenck made waves when he decided last month to reduce it from 2.75. ...more

January 24, 2009

Three Highlands County employees fired last January for "inappropriate" use of instant messages on their work computers have filed a federal lawsuit. ...more

January 17, 2009

County commissioners on Tuesday voted 5-0 to approve a $2 million budget amendment to hire a consulting engineer and begin expansion of the Ridge Manor Wastewater Treatment Plant. ...more

June 5, 2008

In the run-up the Jan. 29 vote on Amendment No. 1, officials of local governments and public school districts around the state were issuing dire warnings. Tax revenue would plunge; services would be slashed; criminals would run the streets; children would go uneducated. The amendment, of course, was the plan the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist came up with in response to last year's howls of protest from property-owning Floridians about rising ad valorem tax bills. ...more

February 12, 2008

On Jan. 29 Florida voters passed Amendment 1, which substantially changes the Florida property tax system. ...more

February 6, 2008

SEBRING –– Three employees in the Highlands County budget department were fired Monday morning for "the nature of, and the volume of, text messages sent on county computers," said county Administrator Carl Cool. ...more

January 28, 2008

SEBRING — Having two incompatible computer systems was ultimately why the Sun 'n Lake of Sebring Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 Tuesday night to drop the services of Charles L. Bryan, tax collector for Highlands County, in 2008-2009. Up until the end of fiscal 2006 the district had been collecting its own assessments. Letting the tax collector collect the district's assessments turned out to not be such a good idea, to hear General Manager Al Grieshaber tell it. "The intent was good when they entered into the agreement," Grieshaber said, explaining he came aboard on Jan 11 and the board passed its first resolution to do so on Jan. 12. ...more

January 14, 2008

Don't tax me; don't tax thee; tax that fella behind the tree." ...more

January 13, 2008

Beware The 'Rs' The less taxes, less government and more guns chairman of the Pasco Republican Party, Bill Bunting, wants everyone to support the state's ballot initiative on Jan. 29 that would increase the homestead exemption to $50,000. Isn't it ironic that the Legislature's support for raising the constitutional amendment passage rate from 50 percent to 60 percent in support of business interests that hate this voice of the people may well come back to bite them in the backside? ...more

December 5, 2007