Council Disagrees on 2013-14 Millage Rate, Budget

The Temple Terrace City Council gave final approval Wednesday to the 6.43 millage rate and $48,014,333 budget for fiscal year 2013-14, but the decisions weren’t unanimous.

Councilman David Pogorilich did not support either measure, causing a 4-1 outcome of both votes.

“I’m kind of amazed and disappointed at the same time that in a year where we’ve realized savings in multiple departments and in a year where we’ve seen increased revenues, that the best we could do was keep the rate the same as it was last year,” Pogorilich said during council discussion. “And I just can’t support that.”

The millage rate of 6.43 mills per $1,000 of taxable value is the same as last year’s millage rate. A homeowner whose house is worth $100,000, in theory, will pay $643 in taxes.

Although Temple Terrace residents will pay no more in taxes next year than they are paying this year, the city will receive an estimated $184,000 in additional revenue next year because its tax base has increased, City Manager Gerald Seeber has said.

Temple Terrace’s millage rate is the highest in Hillsborough County. It stacks up to other jurisdictions per $1,000 of taxable value as follows:

• City of Temple Terrace, 6.43 mills
• City of Tampa, 5.73 mills
• City of Plant City, 4.72 mills
• Hillsborough County (unincorporated), 4.37 mills

Former City Councilman Ron Govin (2004-2012) was the only resident who spoke Wednesday during public hearings on each item. He said since 2008, the council has intended to reduce the millage rate when possible.

He said the council has done a great job of finding money this year, and that money should go back to the residents of Temple Terrace.

“I think our people deserve that,” he said.

But other council members said there are restrictions on how they can allocate money. Certain revenue can only be used for certain projects, for example.

“People may think that there’s money coming in from different places, but it’s not available for the General Fund,” explained Councilwoman Alison Fernandez.

There was nowhere else for the council to cut the budget, she said.

“We’ve had every department person standing in front of us just to find every dime that they are spending, and I don’t know that I can sit here and say confidently if we were to reduce the staff, which is primarily where our expenses are, that as a city we would be able to provide the same level of service,” she said.

Although Mayor Frank Chillura doesn’t vote on council business unless he’s breaking a tie, he shared his opinion on the millage rate during the discussion Wednesday.

“I think our millage rate is much higher than what it needs to be,” he said. “We are almost 2 percent above Plant City, and quite a bit above Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa. And we want people to move to Temple Terrace. (We’re) not sending the right message.”

See also:

• Council Gives Initial Approval to 2013-14 Budget, Millage Rate
• City: Temple Terrace Taxes Not Going Up
• Council Approves 2012-13 Budget, Millage Rate (2012)
• Council Adopts Millage Rate and Budget (2011)