Make TBO Your Home Page| Subscribe To The Paper| Advertise With Us| Contact Us| Login| Edit Profile| Register
Suncoast Pasco News
Email
Print
County To Seek Belt-Tightening Ideas From Public
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: January 8, 2008
DADE CITY, Fla. - DADE CITY, Fla. - Pasco County commissioners will turn to residents to suggest ways to tighten the belt more on the county budget during lean times.
Commissioners said today they prefer to hear directly from residents, rather than hiring yet another consultant to set up public workshops.
So Feb. 5 has tentatively been penciled onto the county's calendar for a "visioning workshop."
Commissioner Michael Cox had brought up spending perhaps $20,000 to hire a consulting firm to start the process.
"I can't understand why some people aren't admitting we're in a recession," Cox said today. "We are in a recession."
He cited one investment firm report that the Tampa Bay area might be among the hardest-hit areas in the nation during a downturn in the economy.
Even if voters don't approve the proposed property tax amendment on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot, Cox believes state lawmakers will develop other means to cut county and city property tax rates.
The first round of tax cuts by the state in 2007 forced Pasco County to trim its budget by $15.6 million. Commissioner Ann Hildebrand characterized it as an "agonizing time."
The budget cuts this year could be even more severe, Chief Assistant County Administrator Michele Baker predicted today.
In October, the county started its Lean, Efficient and Accountable Pasco, or LEAP, project for soliciting budget-trimming ideas from staff, Baker said. Incentive rewards have been offered for suggestions.
Greater efficiency alone won't be enough to overcome more tax cuts, though, Baker thinks.
Commissioner Pat Mulieri liked the idea of bringing back visioning sessions. In 2000 she advocated the same type of public workshops. One such workshop drew about 150 people, she recalled.
Mulieri said, however, she would not vote to hire a consultant to set up visioning workshops.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
