The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

New Port Richey

Tax collector, AAA join forces to make summer roads safer

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Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano is partnering with AAA’s Auto Club Group Traffic Safety Foundation to encourage motorists in the county to take extra precautions and drive safely as summer continues on.

Through the Safe Summer Campaign, Fasano will promote the importance of staying safe on the roadway, especially as many families are preparing to go back to school and enjoy last-minute vacations, according to a release.

Tax collector offices will promote the foundation by encouraging customers to make a voluntary contribution of $1 or more, and get their name on a wall hanging. Customers who donate $2 will receive sunglasses, while those who give $10 will receive a AAA first aid kit.

Customers also can check off the box marked “ACG Traffic Safety Foundation” on the back of their vehicle registration renewal form if they choose to renew by mail.

“Traffic safety is an important part of our daily lives,” said Fasano, in a release. “With newly licensed teen drivers entering the road daily, to seasoned older drivers who have been driving for a lifetime, it is impossible to overstate the value of traffic safety. The foundation has many educational programs that provide needed assistance, training and other services to ensure that each driver is safe behind the wheel.”

The check-off promotions runs through the end of August, and can be made at all five tax collector locations in Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, Dade City, New Port Richey and Gulf Harbors.

To learn more, visit AAA.com/foundation, or PascoTaxes.com.

Mariano’s knee-jerk decision could kill gas tax increase

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Jack Mariano might be the chairman of the Pasco County Commission, but his popularity among fellow commissioners might be hitting an all-time low.

Pasco County commissioner Jack Mariano is now hinting he won't support a raised gas tax because a fellow commissioner won't be 'flexible' on the upcoming budget. (File photo)
Pasco County commissioner Jack Mariano is now hinting he won’t support a raised gas tax because a fellow commissioner won’t be ‘flexible’ on the upcoming budget. (File photo)

Mariano was hammered by commissioners Ted Schrader and Kathryn Starkey during Tuesday’s regular meeting in New Port Richey over his promotion of an expanded recreation park on the west side of the county. Starkey accused Mariano of going too far in how he mischaracterized the commission’s support of SunWest Park, and has wasted time by loading public comment periods at meetings with supporters of the project.

Later, however, Mariano was still wincing from the argument. When Schrader refused to adjust proposed millage rates for the coming year, Mariano then made it clear he would no longer be a potential fourth vote to pass an expanded gas pump tax that would help fund much-needed road projects in the county.

“This is taking away our flexibility,” Mariano told Schrader about not reorganizing the tax rates. “So don’t look for a fourth vote over here for the gas tax.”

The commission is proposing a starting tax rate at 9.3364 mills, although the hope among commissioners is to get the final taxation rate below 9 mills. One mill represents $1 of tax on every thousand dollars of taxable property value. So a $100,000 home with $50,000 in exemptions would pay $466.82 for the year.

Mariano had wanted to move some of the millage from a proposed transportation budget to help maintain roads to the operating budget. That would, in turn, make that money available to increase the hours libraries are open — hours that were cut when budgets had to be slashed at the height of the economic downturn.

The transportation millage of 0.3984 was put in place as an alternative to a 5-cent tax increase per gallon of gas, which would help raise $8 million to fund road improvements.

Schrader has supported doing only a 5-cent gas tax increase with no hike in property taxes. However, such a move would require the votes of four people, and Commissioner Henry Wilson already said he would not support it. That leaves Mariano as the swing vote, since Schrader, Starkey and retiring commissioner Pat Mulieri expressed support.

Shifting the millage numbers would give the commission a chance to start funding some slashed programs again, using set-aside money that would likely not be needed to fund roads if a gas tax was passed, Mariano said. But Schrader didn’t like the idea of moving numbers around.

“That is a slip-and-fall scam, and I’m absolutely not supporting that,” Schrader said. “That is not being fair or truthful to the residents. If you’re willing to raise property taxes for parks and libraries, just say it.”

Instead, Schrader wants the commission to work for a tax break, and look to start funding these struggling programs next year when higher property values mean potentially more tax revenue coming in.

“I think it’s a good idea to give the people a break,” Mulieri said. “I don’t think I have gotten a note about park fees or libraries.”

In the end, the commission voted to approve the preliminary tax rate at 9.3364 mills without adjusting any of the numbers.

The first hearing on the budget is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m., at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City. The commission will have to figure out how to fund an expanded transportation budget — either through a gas tax or property tax, or a combination of both — before the summer is out.

County looking for ideas on long-range transportation plan

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The elevated toll road along the State Road 54/56 corridor might be gone as a private project, but it could still be alive and well as something taxpayers would eventually have to fund.

That and other projects are up for discussion when the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization makes a few stops next month around the county to talk about its long-range transportation plan for the next 25 years.

Meetings will take place the first two weeks in August in Land O’ Lakes, Dade City and New Port Richey. All of them begin at 5 p.m.

The first meeting will be Aug. 5 in Room 111 at Rasmussen College, 18600 Fernview St., in Land O’ Lakes. That will be followed the next night, Aug. 6, at Lacoochee Elementary School’s media center at 38815 Cummer Road in Dade City.

After a meeting at the New Port Richey Public Library Aug. 7, the MPO will return to the eastern side of the county with a meeting Aug. 12 at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave., in Dade City.

For more information on the meetings, or the long-range transportation plan itself, visit Mobility2040Pasco.com, or call (727) 847-8140.

Tech council, USF provides $50k scholarship to SmartStart

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In what officials are calling a surprise announcement, Florida High Tech Corridor Council president Randy Berridge announced his organization is offering a $50,000 sponsorship for the SmartStart Business Incubator program.

The announcement was made Monday at the opening of the second incubator location in New Port Richey, joining the existing one in Dade City.

The council and the University of South Florida back “numerous initiatives that support small and growing companies, and the SmartStart program is a terrific program that is already beginning to show successful results,” Berridge said, in a release. “We are glad to help foster the entrepreneurial activity in Pasco County.”

This is the group’s second sponsorship of Pasco Economic Development Council’s SmartStart Program with USF. Last year, both groups announced it would provide a $50,000 sponsorship during the opening of the Dade City business incubator.

Pasco EDC’s goal is to work with new entrepreneurs and scalable start-up companies in the incubators in Pasco County, and help them build their businesses from the ground up, officials said. Only 20 percent of new businesses are still in operation after the first five years, according to the Small Business Administration. On the other hand, the U.S. Economic Development Administration funded a study that concluded 87 percent of all businesses graduating from an incubator remain in business after five years.

The SmartStart program has helped create 42 jobs, and has projected to create a total of 65 jobs over the next two years, officials said.

For information, visit SmartStartPasco.com, or email Krista Covey at .

Commissioners to host community meetings

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Looking to have a voice when it comes to the upcoming county budget, or other issues affecting where you live, work and play?

Pasco County commissioners are hosting a series of community meetings to talk about all of that and the future direction of the county.

Dade City will be the first stop on July 28 beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave., in Dade City. This session will be televised on Pasco County Government Television on Bright House Networks channel 622, and on Verizon FiOS cable channel 42.

A second meeting will take place July 31 beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. Two others will take place July 29 in New Port Richey.

Commissioners will use recent non-scientific surveys as a guide for discussion on what residents might be asking for. The National Citizen Survey randomly selected various county residents, while a second survey tackled questions about various county programs and services. It also provided the opportunity for residents to give their opinion of the biggest issues facing the county over the next few years.

Commissioners say they will use the opinions and ideas shared during these meetings, as well as the surveys, to help assist them in upcoming budget decisions.

Pasco tax rates expected to remain steady

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Despite pay raises across the board, adding 45 full-time equivalent positions and even providing nearly everything Sheriff Chris Nocco asked for, Pasco County commissioners are expected to receive a draft budget Tuesday morning at the same general millage rate charged to property owners last year.

The proposed $1.21 billion budget is a little more than 3 percent higher than last year, but thanks to new construction and some increase in property values generating another $6.7 million, county budget officials were able to keep ad valorem millage at 7.3441, and the Municipal Fire Service Unit millage at 1.7165.

One mill represents $1 of tax on every thousand dollars of taxable property value. So a $100,000 home with $50,000 in exemptions would pay $367.21 for the year.

But there are still a lot of decisions that need to be made before the final numbers are complete, assistant county administrator Heather Grimes told reporters in a press briefing Monday. The biggest decision is how to fund capital improvement projects for Pasco’s roads — either through a 5-cent gas tax increase, a millage increase of more than 5 percent, or a combination of the two.

There has been considerable debate among commissioners on exactly how to do just that, with no clear consensus yet on which way they will go. Last year, the commission failed to pass an additional gas tax, falling a vote short.

If the county were to raise all $8 million through property taxes, it would mean an additional $20 a year to the typical homeowner’s tax bill. Proponents of a gas tax say those additional costs may not even be passed on to the consumer, since fueling stations operate more by volume than revenue.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office would see its budget increase more than $5 million under the proposed budget, providing everything Nocco had asked for except for $1.7 million he said he needed to switch healthcare coverage from fully insured to self-insured. Doing that could cut health insurance costs by around 2 percent, Grimes said, but the request came too late for the current budget cycle, and would likely create an additional tax increase to implement it.

To read more about Nocco’s long-range plans for the sheriff’s office, see the July 9 print edition of The Laker.

Spending on county parks will jump $571,000 to $8.9 million, but it’s still $1.1 million short of where Pasco funded them in 2008. That means park fees would remain in effect and staffing levels are still well below what they were nearly seven years ago.

Libraries also won’t get all they had hoped for. Part of the plan was to allow the libraries to once again open on Mondays, or at the very least extend hours on existing days. Even a plan to open just two libraries — including the Land O’ Lakes branch — on Mondays didn’t make the cut with its $279,000 price tag.

Pasco County is seeing an uptick in property values, which has allowed the government to fund additional programs without raising millage. However, it’s lagging behind neighboring counties in the region, which have experienced value increases of between 5.3 percent and 7.5 percent, Grimes said. The only county that didn’t fare better in value increases was Hernando, but not by much.

Some initiatives from last year already are paying off, Grimes said. The county’s conversion to a self-insured health plan saved the county nearly $1 million, or about $300 per employee annually. The current budget has made some room to implement wellness centers for county employees, which officials say could create even more cost savings in the future because of its preventive medical care.

The first public hearing for the budget is expected to take place Sept. 9 in Dade City, followed by a second one Sept. 23 in New Port Richey. Commissioners will hear details of the proposed budget for the first time during its regular meeting July 8 beginning at 10 a.m. at the Historic Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City.

Gulfside Hospice celebrates a quarter-century of care

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In the beginning, it was known as Central Gulfside Hospice, serving only patients in New Port Richey.

Now, a quarter-century later, it’s known as Gulfside Hospice & Pasco Palliative Care, with about 1,500 admissions a year across Pasco County.

Linda Ward, president and chief executive of Gulfside Hospice & Pasco Palliative Care, will be among those celebrating the care provider’s 25th anniversary at a Founder’s Day Breakfast on July 8. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)
Linda Ward, president and chief executive of Gulfside Hospice & Pasco Palliative Care, will be among those celebrating the care provider’s 25th anniversary at a Founder’s Day Breakfast on July 8.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photo)

The organization has 14 locations, including a corporate resource office in Land O’ Lakes, clinical branch offices in New Port Richey and Dade City, four inpatient care centers, five thrift shops, a bereavement center, and outreach counseling center.

It has about 265 employees, plus contract employees.

No matter where it delivers services, Gulfside has the same goals in mind, said Linda Ward, its president and chief executive officer.

“A lot of people think that hospice is a place,” Ward said. “Hospice is a concept. The concept is really comfort and quality, peace, dignity.”

Across the country, about 90 percent of hospice patients choose to receive their care at home, Ward said.

Gulfside delivers its hospice care in a wide array of settings including retirement homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, apartments, or other residences, standalone hospice centers — wherever the person lives, Ward said. Gulfside’s team manages the patient’s pain and symptoms, and assists the patient with the emotional and spiritual aspects of end-of-life issues.

It provides necessary medications as well as medical equipment and supplies. Its team coaches families in caring for patients and dealing with a wide array of issues that arise.

When Gulfside was preparing to open a residential care center in Zephyrhills, it took great care in making sure the center was designed with its patients and their loved ones in mind, Ward said. That center opened four years ago, with a goal to create a special environment.

When visitors arrive there, they walk through a space that has the feel of an Italian piazza. Natural light pours through the skylight in the courtyard’s high ceiling. A collection of tables offers visitors a place to sit and relax. A decorative fountain is the focal centerpiece of the room.

Before residential architect Peter Horstman designed the center, Gulfside told him what they were trying to achieve.

“We basically painted a picture of what it was that we wanted patients and families and visitors to experience as soon as they walk through the door,” Ward said.

People are walking into the center with a lot on their minds and the goal is to make the surroundings pleasant and relaxing, Ward said.

Besides spacious patient rooms, the center has a family room that looks out over a pond, a place where visitors and patients can play board games, a children’s play room, and a chapel, complete with stained glass windows.

Providing a quality environment is just one part of the equation, Ward said.

“You can have the most beautiful environment ever, but it’s not everything. It’s really not the most important thing,” Ward said.

Quality of care is vital, and that means having a capable staff that is committed to serving patients, Ward said.

Even though hospice has been around in the United States since the 1970s and has grown substantially since Medicare started covering it in the 1980s, some people still do not understand what it is, Ward said. Some health care professionals remain hesitant to make a hospice referral because they have been trained to try to heal patients, and for them, hospice feels like an admission of failure.

Some patients are even reluctant to accept a hospice referral.

The term “hospice” can provoke fear, Ward explained. “They (patients) think, ‘Oh, my gosh, they’ve called in hospice, that’s it.’”

Some doctors understand the value of referring patients to hospice when there’s still time for the patient to benefit from the available services, Ward said. During those final stages, hospice can help not only the patient, but the patient’s loved ones, too.

Many patients, by they are referred for hospice, may only have a few days to live, Ward said. “That’s when a disservice has been done to the person. The hospice experience is so much more than just the pain and symptom control for the patient. That’s the primary initial first goal — get the person out of pain, immediately. That’s our No. 1 immediate task.

“But then, it’s a holistic approach,” she said, involving a team that includes a social worker, a chaplain, a certified nurse, a physician and a certified nurse’s aid. They help the patient with everything from pain relief to personal hygiene, as well as such issues as spiritual guidance and family dynamics.

“In the world in which we live, families are really having tough times,” Ward said. “The recession was so hard on people, and they’re still trying to come out of it. And so you’ve got those financial factors and psychosocial issues, and now you add terminal illness on top of it, and that’s such a high-stress situation.

“And so, our social workers and chaplains – they are so highly involved in helping people through these things,” Ward said.

Medicare benefits can be used to reimburse hospice providers for patients who have a prognosis of six months or less, Ward said. Many patients, however, outlive their prognosis and can continue to qualify for the services.

Many hospice providers, including Gulfside, also have a separate palliative care program, which aims to provide pain relief for patients who are not hospice-appropriate yet, but ultimately will be, Ward said.

Those patients do not qualify for hospice benefits, but can qualify under Medicare Part B, which has benefits for people who have chronic illness, Ward said.

As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, Gulfside is planning for its future.

“Right now, we’re looking at continued partnerships with other health care providers, to diversify us and grow our business,” Ward said.

Gulfside has an active palliative program with Medical Center of Trinity, she said, noting it does about 30 palliative consults a month with the hospital. Gulfside also has a close relationship with Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel.

Gulfside’s residential center in Zephyrhills has strong ties to Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Ward said. “Ninety-nine percent of all of our patients who come to this care center come from Florida Hospital Zephyrhills.”

Published July 2, 2014

See this story in print: Click Here

Fasano collecting weekend food for needy kids

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The federal government provides food for disadvantaged kids through the school breakfast and lunch program, but Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano wants to make sure bellies are full on the weekends and holidays, too.

Fasano is teaming up with Pack-a-Sack 4 Kids in July, which provides a backpack full of food that each participating child can bring home on Friday afternoons that will get them through the whole weekend. More than 7,000 children in Pasco County alone lack adequate food during the weekends and school holidays, Fasano said.

Each tax collector’s office in the county will be a collection site for non-perishable food items such as single-serve cereal boxes, bowls, oatmeal packets, canned pasta, juice boxes, canned meats, crackers, pudding and applesauce cups, as well as other items like tuna or chicken packets.

Food will be picked up weekly as to allow fresh fruits and vegetables, but Fasano is asking that no items be donated that require refrigeration.

“There should not be a single child who goes to bed hungry each night,” Fasano said in a release. “Every item of food that is collected will go into the hands of young people throughout Pasco County to ensure that they have a full stomach during weekend and school holiday periods. I encourage anyone who visits one of our offices to bring in an item or two that a child would enjoy eating.”

Contributions can be made at the Land O’ Lakes and Dade City offices for the tax collector, as well as New Port Richey and Gulf Harbors, Fasano said. For more information about the food collection drive, call Greg Giordano at (727) 847-8179.

Tax collector focused on Arc of Florida in July

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The Arc of Florida/Center for Independence is the featured charitable organization for July by the Pasco County Tax Collector.

The goal is to raise funds to support those with developmental and other intellectual disabilities in the community. The Center for Independence is the Pasco County chapter of The Arc of Florida, and is a key provider of services to those with a variety of disabilities, according to a release.

Services there include residential, day-training, supported employment, and transportation assistance.

“Donations through the check-off program fund services that change the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Pasco County,” said Deborah Linton, chief executive of The Arc of Florida, in a release.

“There is probably not a person who does not know someone with a disability, whether a family member, friend or neighbor,” said county tax collector Mike Fasano, in a release. “The programs offered by the Center for Independence have made the lives of countless individuals better. Your donation of any amount will assist the center to continue providing the highest level of care possible.”

Customers who wish to support the charity can check off the box on their vehicle registration form to contribute $1 or more to the fund. Cash donations also will be accepted at tax collector’s offices around the county, like Land O’ Lakes, Dade City, New Port Richey and Gulf Harbors.

The promotion runs throughout July.

For more information, call Greg Giordano at (727) 847-8179, or visit PascoTaxes.com.

Starkey park opens bike off-road trail Saturday

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Visitors to Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park looking for a bit of off-roading will now be able to find it — at least for a bicycle.

The Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department is set to open its new off-road bike trail Saturday at the park during a dedication ceremony Saturday near Parking Lot 10.

Last year, the South West Association of Mountain Bike Peddlers, more commonly known as SWAMP, got approval to begin grooming the new off-road trail. Volunteers used hand tools and small pieces of heavy machinery to groom the trail, making sure it remained in the shade, which they feel riders will appreciate.

The first seven-mile section is dubbed Magnolia Trail, and is an access trail to the heart of what is anticipated may be a 35-mile trail system in the 8,000 acre park. The trail leaves from Parking Lot 10 and winds through pine uplands, old growth oaks, scrub oak, flat woods, wetlands, cypress domes and a lily pond.

“This trail is designed to showcase some of the park’s most beautiful parts by going near or through them,” said SWAMP volunteer Rudy Miller, in a release. “There is ample twisting and turning to give the riders rhythm and a challenge.”

The park is located at 10500 Wilderness Park Blvd., in New Port Richey.

For more information, visit SWAMPClub.org.