Limited buys of environmental lands in Hillsborough County may happen without tax increase

TAMPA — Hillsborough commissioners won't have to raise taxes in the near term to buy environmentally sensitive lands, they learned Thursday.

They just won't be able to buy the $200 million worth authorized by voters in November — at least not for a while.

Debt management director Mike Merrill said the county will pay off all its current debts for buying pristine properties under the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program by 2011. That will free up a portion of the county's tax levy to make debt payments on new purchases — about $70 million worth.

Merrill said county staff is preparing a package of potential land buys that could move forward this fall. Loans would be structured so payments don't start right away, though that's a little more costly.

County management and budget irector Eric Johnson had said this week that buying lands in the near term could force a tax rate increase that commissioners have said they won't support.