Monday, September 3, 2012
The first public hearing on the fiscal year 2013 budget is next week.
Next week, City Council will hold its first public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget. A key revenue generator for next year's budget is the addition of a fire readiness fee. The proposed fee could generate $10 million in 2013 to help cover for the city's budget shortfall. While the fee was approved 5-3 earlier this summer, it does not become official until Council passes the budget later this month. Non-profits, churches and the Pinellas County Democrats are taking aim at the 'fire tax' because they say it unfairly targets the poor. The fire tax would operate with a 75/25 model. Each property in the city, regardless of value, would be charged $75 a year. The rest of the tax would be based on the special assessment for …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The city has created a website for residents to see the additional taxes due with a new fire readiness fee.
The City Council voted 5-3 last month to create an ordinance for creating fire readiness fees. But the fiscal year 2013 budget will need approval prior to implementing the tax. Residents who want to learn how much they will may for a fire readiness fee can check out a new website that shows the tax. Just enter your address, name or parcel number to find out. The fire readiness/assessment fee would be paid in two tiers. According to the city, the special assessment for each tax parcel will equal the sum $0.23 per $1,000 of the value of improvements attributed to the tax parcel by the county property appraiser plus $75 per tax parcel. "Call it a tax, call it a penalty," Mayor Bill Foster said at a July Council meeting. "I’m not Justice (…
Friday, July 20, 2012
A millage increase was approved Thursday that can be used in the event that the fire readiness fee is not certified by the court.
Mayor Bill Foster said it is important for the city and City Council to have as many "tools in the tool box" it can when balancing budgets over the next several years. Earlier this month, the Council approved the creation of a fire readiness fee that may generate up to $10 million annually. Should the courts, or another vote, throw a wrench in those plans, Foster proposed to set the 2013 millage rate at 6.7742 mills. That millage increase would generate close to the amount of the fire tax. "This option is available for Council to set in the event that the fire readiness fee option is unavailable," said Budget and Management Director Richard Bulger. "Between the fire readiness fee and the millage ... both will generate roughly the same …
Friday, July 13, 2012
City Council voted 5-3 Thursday to approve an ordinance, which allows the city to set up a fire readiness fee.
Whether it's called a fee, tax or penalty, St. Petersburg residents could soon be paying a newly approved fire readiness fee in St. Pete. On Thursday, City Council voted 5-3 on an ordinance and resolution that created the readiness fee for St. Petersburg, which could generate up to $10 million a year. "Call it a tax, call it a penalty," Mayor Bill Foster said. "I’m not justice Roberts, I’m not going to define what it is. When we use the money to fund a fire readiness function, it (allows) us to use other general revenue monies on something else." That $10 million generated from taxable parcels next year alone could nearly cover the city's fiscal year 2013 budget shortfall. Money generated from the readiness fee would be legally bound to…
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
City Council will consider a fire readiness fee Thursday that is projected to generate around $10 million for the city next year, which would cover most of the city's projected budget shortfall.
On Thursday, the proposed fire readiness fee will be up for a vote from the City Council during a public hearing on the issue. The per parcel fee would generate around $10 million next year, which could nearly cover all of the city's projected fiscal year 2013 budget shortfall. The yearly tax is set up into two tiers as a 75/25. With the fee, 75 percent of the revenues would come from a per parcel fee. With 105,000 taxable parcels in the city, said that means each parcel would pay $75 a year. The other quarter of the revenues to be generated with the fee will be relative per household improvement value. Mayor Bill Foster and the Council have been more willing to implement the fee rather than hiking property taxes with a millage increase…
Friday, June 15, 2012
By a 5-2 vote, City Council approved the parameters for a fire readiness fee to be set up in St. Petersburg.
A day after Mayor Bill Foster outlined $2.1 million in preliminary budget cuts during the final budget summit, City Council approved the parameters for a fire readiness fee to close the budget shortfall in fiscal year 2013. Despite public support for a millage increase over service cuts and a readiness fee, council voted, 5-2, for a fire assessment fee that would generate $10 million each year. The approval is just for the parameters of implementing a fee, but is not an official city ordinance yet. The first reading of the readiness fee will be June 21 with the public hearing set for July 12. City council members saw the readiness fee as a more stable and safer alternative than a property tax hike. With the fee, Foster said the city …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The fire assessment, or readiness fee, would provide the city a new revenue source without raising the millage rate. The fee could also be assessed to people not currently on the property tax roll.
Mayor Bill Foster and the St. Petersburg City Council have repeatedly said this year that cutting services alone to balance the budget will not work. A balanced budget, Foster said, must be met with cuts and increased revenue. By a 4-3 vote, the St. Petersburg City Council on May 3 directed city attorney John Wolfe to explore setting up a basic fire assessment fee for St. Petersburg. That initial exploration could cost the city up to $60,000, Wolfe said. The fire assessment, or readiness fee, would provide the city a new revenue source without raising the millage rate. The fee could also be assessed to people not currently on the property tax roll. “You must include non-taxable parcels and those owned by not-for-profits, because no matter…
Tom Tito
5:03 pm on Monday, September 3, 2012
South St Petersburg Democratic Club Meets at Sanderlin Center 2335 22nd Ave. S., St. Pete 33712 - September 8th 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM The public is welcome to attend. Information about Democratic clubs can be found on the party web site. http://www.pinellasdemocrats.com/page.asp?PageId=105 The petition is still active an you are invited to sign at: http://signon.org/sign/stop-unfair-st-pete-fire-2 more ›