Pinellas County - Clearwater Beach - Sand Key - Belleair Shore/Beach
Indian Rocks Beach - Indian Shores - Redington Shores - No. Redington Beach
Redington Beach - Madeira Beach - Treasure Island - St. Pete Beach
IRB budget pleases few
By Melinda Greene
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH –- It was a long evening as commissioners and a larger-than-usual audience of about 50 tussled over how the city ought to (or not) spend its money for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
To the consternation of many residents, property taxes will be increasing as the commission voted 4-1 to set the final millage rate at 2.0, a 36 percent increase above the current rate of 1.46. Commissioner Dan Torres cast the dissenting vote.
The 2008-09 ad valorem rate is expected to generate slightly more than $2 million in revenue for the city. At the first reading in September, the commission voted to 4-1 to reduce the tentative rate from 2.2 to 2.1.
Commissioner Dan Torres voted against the rate and indicated he favored the 1.89 rate initially proposed by
city staff. “It’s a very lean year and we have to go as low as we can,” Commissioner Torres said.
Commissioner Cookie Kennedy said she felt comfortable that the city should be able to work with the rate of 2.0 without causing a hardship.
When the time came to approve the 2008-2009 operating budget with revenues projected at $7,037,654 and
expenditures totaling $6,629,925, the commission voted 4-1 for its adoption with Commissioner Torres casting the lone dissenting vote.
One of the city’s major expenses is in the form of law enforcement of which the city contracts on an annual basis with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO). Ultimately, the commission voted 3-2 to approve an $803,638 contract offered as one of several options by the PCSO. In June, the PCSO presented the commission with a renewed contract for 2008-2009 providing the same level of service but at a cost of $858,000, an increase of 6.69 percent over the $807,000 contract for 2007-2008.
Looking for ways to trim the budget, the commission asked the PCSO to offer less costly alternatives such as a reduction in policing staff during midweek. The previous contract provided for two deputies per shift, 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Now, only one deputy will work the third shift on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Citizens admonished city officials to find ways to rein in wasteful spending and cited funds earmarked for capital improvement projects such as city parks, utility vehicles, playground equipment and new signs. Police protection however, is one area of the proposed budget for which many residents expressed a reluctance to economize.
Indian Rocks Beach residents are also smarting after being slapped with a soon-to-take effect 60 percent utility rate increase for sewer and solid waste services. The sewer and solid waste funds have been in the red, kept solvent only because of more than $1 million in advances loaned from the city’s general fund. The fiscal problems began in 2001 but went largely unnoticed by city officials until this past year.
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