DADE CITY — County property taxes are going up on almost half of Pasco County's homesteaded properties next year. Bob Tavares isn't happy his Trinity home is one of them.
County programs are being cut next year. Richard Kimmel isn't happy the veterans' services office is one of them.
With a plan that reflects both a tax hike and service cuts, expect to hear from residents on both sides of the issue Wednesday evening when county commissioners hold the first of two hearings on the $935 million budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
"It's a balancing act," said Commissioner Michael Cox. "At the end of the day, probably nobody's going to be happy."
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Commissioners have set a preliminary total property tax rate of $7.62 for every $1,000 of taxable assessed value, up almost 20 percent.
It marks the first rate increase since 2001.
That move creates an extra $13.2 million in the general fund and $2.5 million in the fire district fund — money that commissioners have been using in large part to save some of the 269 positions, nearly half of them filled, from the chopping block in the proposed budget.
After restoring a number of proposed cuts, covering such increases as health insurance costs and putting almost $6 million in storm reserve accounts, about $3 million is left in the general fund.
Commissioners have yet to decide what to do with that $3 million.
Options include setting it aside to help with the following year's budget as top administrators have recommended, or putting it toward tax relief as Commissioner Ted Schrader has advocated.
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Bob Tavares has been following much of this. But that didn't make opening his tax notice any easier. A retired vice president of a Rhode Island manufacturing company, Tavares lives in Trinity's upscale Aristida neighborhood.
Tavares, who has lived in the home for nearly a dozen years, saw his assessed value inch up slightly even as the market value dropped from $527,261 to $404,044.
The upshot? He would owe an extra $300 in taxes for the county general fund and an extra $57 for the fire district fund.
Tavares is one of nearly 63,000 Pasco homesteaders — out of a total of 128,000 — who will see property taxes go up.
The typical homesteader, however, will see a much smaller increase than Tavares: around $47, according to information from Pasco County Property Appraiser Mike Wells' office.
Tavares and other longtime homeowners had previously enjoyed a provision of the Save Our Homes amendment that caps the increase in the taxable value of homesteaded property at 3 percent a year.
When market values were skyrocketing, the law saved many homeowners from seeing their assessed values — and, thus, tax bills — go along for the ride.
On the flip side, though, the state law allows the assessed values that taxes are figured from to rise a certain amount, even if the market value shrinks — letting governments "recapture" some of the savings. This year, that means an average 0.1 percent increase.
The other half of Pasco's homesteaders, such as more recent homeowners, did not accumulate benefits of the cap and saw their assessed values drop with their market values. The typical reduction on those homes? Nearly $122, Wells' office says.
Tavares said he thinks commissioners should have done more to keep the tax rates closer to current levels.
"The point I'm getting at is Save Our Homes was designed to prevent this kind of sticker shock," he said.
"They've effectively defeated the intent of the legislation by jerking the millage rate."
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On the other hand, there is Kimmel, 79, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Korea and now lives in Country Place, a manufactured housing park in Trinity.
He was upset when he learned that the proposed budget had slashed the veterans affairs office, taking it from six employees to two. The office helps veterans apply for the federal benefits they are owed, including nearly $3 million in retroactive pay.
So he and other veterans stood out in front of county buildings, collecting signatures. They stood up at commission meetings and criticized the cuts.
Last week, during a budget workshop, commissioners added back two of the counselor positions, each one worth about $37,000.
The next day, Kimmel showed up at another commission meeting and told officials they hadn't gone far enough for veterans.
"What'd I want them to do?" he said later. "I wanted them to put all the money back in to have six."
He said veterans, especially those returning now from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will need even more help.
"I've come to realize," he said, "the veterans office needs about 12."
Jodie Tillman can be reached at jtillman@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6247.
If you go
Two chances to be heard
The county budget hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the historic courthouse at 37918 Meridian Ave. in Dade City. The final hearing is set for Sept. 22 at the West Pasco Government Center at 7530 Little Road in New Port Richey.
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