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Town commission sets low tax rate
By DAVE SHELTON
Article published on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007 |
BELLEAIR SHORE – Perhaps the lowest municipal tax rate in Pinellas County will be considered at the town commission’s next meeting.
A municipal budget almost unchanged from last year was formally introduced by Mayor John A. Robertson during a special meeting of the council Sept. 5 in the Belleair Bluff’s City Hall.
The community of beachfront estates seems to have been missed by the ax falling on its surrounding municipalities forced to cut services and employees by Florida’s property tax reforms.
Robertson explained that because the town has had very small budget increases in recent years, the mandated rollback to 2006 cuts nothing from his proposed 2008 budget.
No one appeared at the meeting to comment on the budget or tax rate, which were approved by 3-0 vote by Commissioners John E. Hayes Jr. and Ray Piscitelli and Mayor Robertson.
The budget and proposed tax rate of .52 will again be open for a public hearing Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
To produce the same property tax revenues that the city collected last year, Robertson explained, the tax rate would be nearly 55 cents per $1,000 taxed value of a home. The mayor said the town only needs 52 cents to support his proposed budget, a penny more than was collected last year, per $1,000 of taxable home values.
“This budget is coming in fairly responsibly,” Robertson told commissioners during their July 17 meeting when the mayor introduced his budget proposal. He noted the proposal includes, its largest single item, hiring police protection from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
In other action, the town commission approved, on first reading, an ordinance establishing the town commission as the town’s official planning agency for land use planning.
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Article published on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007
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