Bottom line? If it passes, tax bills will be based on the fire district's intended rate of 17 cents a square foot, not a fraction of that.
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published October 24, 2004
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - The devil is in the decimals.
A referendum that would change how people pay taxes in the Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue District was thrown into confusion late Friday when it was discovered that the official wording features some bad math.
The Nov. 2 question asks voters if they want to pay a tax rate of "0.17 cents per square foot per single family residence equaling $170 per 1,000 square feet."
The problem is that 0.17 cents per square foot would equal $1.70, not $170, per 1,000 square feet.
The district's intent is to charge homeowners 17 cents per square foot. But County Tax Collector Diane Nelson - and a county attorney - agreed Friday that's not what the question does.
"The "0.17 cents' wording does not mean 17 cents," Nelson said Friday. "The good news is that the referendum does say $170 for 1,000 square feet."
She stressed that the Tax Collector's Office is not responsible for parsing the wording of the referendum.
Nor is the county, according to Assistant County Attorney Betsy Steg. "We don't approve the language, we just call the election. Neither the county or the supervisor of elections are responsible for the correctness of the wording," she said.
"We don't think it is unclear at all," said Maggie Mooney, an attorney for the fire district. "The fact that the word "cents' is plural should tell people that the rate is more than 1 cent. There also is the additional language that clears up any potential confusion."
Kevin Hennessey, also an attorney for the fire district, said the district "will vigorously defend" any challenge to the referendum.
His office is representing the district in a lawsuit filed several weeks ago by area residents seeking a court injunction to stop the referendum election. No hearing date has been set.
Barring last-minute court action, voters will decide the issue Nov. 2.
Bottom line, if the referendum is approved, homeowners will receive tax bills based on the district's intended rate of 17 cents a square foot.
"We just send out the tax bills that are sent to us from the district. Any property owner can dispute what that bill is and anyone can file a lawsuit," Nelson said.
If the referendum fails, homeowners would continue to pay the current flat fee of $190, an amount the district says is not enough to balance future budgets.
Fire District Commissioner Robert McEwen says the continued financial health of the fire district, which its auditor says faces possible bankruptcy and takeover by the state, depends on passage of the referendum.
Opponents - including elected officials representing towns served by the district, some angry residents, and two candidates for the fire district's board of commissioners - argue the district board "mismanagement" has led to the current financial crisis.
Fire district officials adamantly deny this charge, stressing that it maintains one of the highest fire and emergency service response times, despite fire fees and firefighter salaries that rank among the lowest in the county.
"Their argument is absolutely wrong," said Indian Rocks Beach Vice Mayor Ockunzzi. "There is a financial crisis because they spend too much. This is a management issue. It's not about quality of service."
"There is no mismanagement," countered Dave Livernois, president of the Indian Rocks Professional Firefighters, Local 3206, which supports the proposed referendum. "We have a big chance of losing our fire district if this doesn't pass," he said.
A "yes" vote would increase fees, starting in 2005-2006, from the present $190 to $500 or more for homes that are 3,000 square feet or more. Homes measuring 1,000 square feet would pay $20 less a year than they do now. Smaller homes would pay even less.
The fire district includes about 12,000 homes and businesses in the towns of Indian Shores, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair Beach and Belleair Shore, as well as on the mainland from Walsingham Road south to 94th Avenue and from 131st Street west to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Here are some reasons the fire district and the firefighters union say you should vote "yes":
The proposed square footage assessment is the "only alternative" that will provide "a fair and equitable method for taxpayers to fund their fire service delivery system."
Without additional revenue, the district will be closed down by the state, forcing residents and businesses to pay even higher fire service fees than proposed in the referendum.
Homes measuring less than 1,118 square feet would pay a lower fire service fee than they do now.
Those homes paying more than the current fee will still pay less for fire service than property owners in most other Pinellas County fire districts.
And here is why its opponents say you should vote "no":
According to figures from the Property Appraiser's Office 81 percent of all district homeowners would pay higher fire service fees - 58 percent in Indian Shores, 81 percent in Indian Rocks Beach, 84 percent in Belleair Beach, 100 percent in Belleair Shore and 92 percent in the unincorporated area.
The proposed fire fee will generate 20 percent more than is needed to operate the district in the first year alone.
The wording of the referendum is "vague" in both the amount proposed and how a home's taxable size would be determined.
The proposed fire fee only affects residents, not businesses whose rates would not change.
