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Higher taxes, fire fees could pay for more Largo cops, firefighters

 
Published March 20, 2015

LARGO — Commissioners generally agree the city needs more police and firefighters but they're struggling with ways to pay for them.

Those ways could include a property tax increase, a new fee for fire coverage, or a fee for businesses that frequently call for police help.

"There's a million scenarios here," said Henry Schubert, Largo assistant city manager.

For the past several months, Largo commissioners have said they want to look at public safety staffing. While all commissioners have been willing to study the issue, the major push has come from commission veteran Curtis Holmes and newcomers John Carroll and Donna Holck. Carroll is a former Largo police chief. Holck said during the campaign that firefighters had encouraged her to run.

They have said that both departments are understaffed as a result of cutbacks during the economic downturn and stepped up annexations. The police, in particular, they say, are caught between handling gang activity and problems caused by the homeless.

At a recent workshop, commissioners got their first look at a five-year proposal for staffing the two departments. If the proposal is adopted, one empty position in the police department would be filled and 15 new officers would be added. Largo would buy eight patrol cars. The fire department would get nine new firefighter/paramedics, a full-time public education specialist and a part-time public education specialist.

The proposal also calls for a new code enforcement officer, a special magistrate to hear cases, and a support person to help with the additional work. The new code officer would need a new car. Also in the proposal is an IT specialist to help in both the fire and public works departments. (The magistrate would be a contract position.)

Total cost of staff and vehicles: About $3.01 million.

That's the one-time cost. It does not take into account the cumulative cost of those employees over the years.

Largo staff have suggested phasing in the hiring over five years. But even if the plan is phased in, Largo staff says the city's $65.3 million general fund budget can't absorb the impact without cutbacks or finding ways to amp up revenues. Cutbacks, they say, are impossible.

"With regard to reducing current expenditures, it is important to note almost 100 personnel positions were deleted during the recent recession," Schubert wrote in a memo to the commission. "Reductions in other departments to fund proposed public safety positions would require reductions in services."

But there's disagreement among commissioners whether that's the case. Holmes said he believes government's sole purpose is public safety. Recreation and entertainment are nice to have, he said, but they might be unaffordable.

Council member Jamie Robinson disagreed. While Robinson said he agrees with increasing the staffing in public safety, he doesn't believe in cutting back so-called quality of life services.

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"Nobody moves to Largo because we have an awesome fire department," Robinson said. "They move here because of the amenities available to them. And that's a fact of life."

If cutbacks are off the table, that leaves property tax increases or finding new revenue streams.

If the plan is phased in, officials are projecting an 8 percent increase in property taxes for the 2015-16 fiscal year just to pay for this portion of the budget. That 8 percent would be accounted for by an expected 5 percent increase in property values and a 3 percent hike in the tax rate. Subsequent tax years would likely see property taxes go up but not as much under current projections. Largo's current tax rate is about $5.19 per $1,000 of assessed, taxable property. City taxes on a $150,000 house with a $50,000 homestead exemption are about $519.

Possible new revenue streams include a fire fee for service. Another suggestion was a fee for businesses that frequently call for police help.

The conversation, commissioners say, is just starting. They're scheduled to meet again next month to look at cost and revenue projections and discuss further the possibility of instituting a fee structure.

Contact Anne Lindberg at alindberg@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8450. Follow @alindbergtimes.