By Kyle LoJacono
The Pasco County Commission has tentatively approved an 8 percent property tax hike to help close its budget shortfall.
Commissioners avoided raising taxes last year, but further declining property value is cutting too far into the county’s revenue base.
Pasco is projecting a drop of $1.6 billion in taxable value for the 2012-13 fiscal year. County Budget Chief Mike Nurrenbrock said the increase will only go into place if the final property evaluations confirm that drop.
“If the value goes up a little bit, these millage rates will go down a little bit,” Nurrenbrock said. “We’re going to be using these rates in the proposed budget as we go forward.”
Nurrenbrock said the projections he has received show another decrease in value is likely. He added the county gets most of its revenue from property taxes.
In addition, the tax that funds the county’s fire rescue service will also increase by 8 percent. Nurrenbrock said citizens will pay $62.65 more for every $100,000 of taxable value, which is the worth of property minus the homestead exemption.
Including the projections for next year, the county has lost $13.2 billion in taxable value since 2009, according to Nurrenbrock. He added that figure is greater than the amount Pasco has spent on new construction projects during the last 25 years combined.
“We’ve cut from the budget the last few years to try and avoid tax increases,” Nurrenbrock said. “If the value drops again, a rate increase will be unavoidable.”
The budget chief said other rising costs, such as Medicaid and health insurance for employees, have added to the budget woes. Nurrenbrock estimates the county must spend $7.2 million more next year just to keep both expenses at their current level.
Commissioner Ted Schrader, whose District 1 covers East Pasco and northern parts of the county’s center, said a rollback across the board is likely because business owners will be unable to absorb the new rate.
“I don’t see how we’re going to be able to avoid the full rollback,” Schrader said. “It’s not a big increase if you focus solely on homesteaded properties, but you have to look at nonhomesteaded properties. They will pay significantly higher taxes.”
The commissioners will have several more budget meetings before setting its spending plan in late September.
