Penny For Pinellas Working For You - In 2002, about $250-thousand of Penny 2 funds were used to demolish the unsafe and wasteful fountain at the center of the Clearwater Beach Roundabout. Unfortunately, about $1.5-million of Penny 2 funds were used to construct it three years earlier.
The success story of 17 years of Pinellas County's one percent infrastructure sales tax, known as Penny for Pinellas, is something we are reminded of every day. Whether it's the shortened commute enjoyed by users of the Bayside Bridge, the enhanced services available at Clearwater's sparkling new Main Library or the recreation enjoyed by many at Clearwater Beach Family Aquatic Center, there is no doubt that the quality of life in Clearwater and Pinellas County would be far different had we not decided to tax ourselves an additional penny per dollar on our purchases.
We are also reminded every day by the many roadside signs erected by Pinellas County, touting their past success and promising a better future with projects that will be funded during the remaining three years of Penny 2.
But they failed to remind us of some projects. Remember the fountain that was supposed to create a sense of arrival at Clearwater Beach? Nearly $2-million literally down the drain.
Next Tuesday, the voters of Pinellas County will be asked to tax themselves an additional one percent for a third decade, funding a variety of initiatives that would otherwise be impossible to accomplish. The shopping list we are being asked to fund includes a lot of things we just can't do without, including Fire Station renovations, traffic calming initiatives and a beach parking garage.
But after 17 years of investing our pennies in capital projects, our list of needs has shortened, and wants have crept into the proposed Penny 3 shopping list. The City of Clearwater wants to spend $25-million on a new City Hall, claiming that it could operate more efficiently out of a new joint County/City facility. Now our current City Hall is no showplace, but it appears to be meeting the needs of Clearwater's citizens, and could continue to do so with proper maintenance. Want vs need? This is a want!
And what of the $12.5-million proposed to be spent on expanding Clearwater's downtown streetscape project that is already underway? Downtown is established as a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), and the additional tax revenues generated by projects like Water's Edge and Station Square can be spent only within downtown. Why not fund additional downtown improvements from the CRA, and save our pennies for projects in neighborhoods that don't benefit from a CRA? This is another want.
Clearwater's shopping list is also flawed by what it does not contain, most notably funding for stormwater projects. Councilmember Bill Jonson suggested including some stormwater funding in Clearwater's Penny 3 list, but his City Council colleagues did not agree. Jonson wanted to reduce the Stormwater Utility tax that's part of your monthly garbage/water/sewer bill; at $9.91 per month, it's among the highest in the state.
Some have claimed that the timing of Pinellas County's Penny 3 referendum was chosen to facilitate its passage during an off-year election that has traditionally low voter turnout. While that may be true, the timing can also facilitate a negotiation process between taxpayers and their government.
The current Penny for Pinellas sales tax does not expire until 2010. While an approval of its 10-year extension is irrevocable, a denial now is not. If Pinellas County's voters say NO this year, the sky will not fall, they will not blow up the Bayside Bridge or close the Main Library. What they will do is ask you again next year. And if you take the time to tell your elected officials why you voted NO, next year's list will be better.
The only downside will be enduring the endless Penny 3 "information" campaign again in 2008.
