Points to Ponder

A preliminary 2006/07 budget discussion will take place at the Hernando County Board of Commission meeting on Tuesday, February 14th. The Budget Director, George Zoettlein, will present costs, a potential millage reduction, along with his recommendations. Linda Hayward will present a petition that has garnered over 10K signatures from the citizens of Hernando County seeking property tax relief during this budget discussion. Our commissioners are facing a challenge this year to reduce the Ad Valorem millage rate in this county to an amount larger than the 0.25 mil suggested by Mr. Zoettlein. The 3% property value increases each year created by the "Save Our Homes Act" has really put a burden on homeowners who are finding affordable home ownership beyond their reach. Many struggle with day to day living expenses just to get by and have a difficult time paying property taxes, let alone homeowners insurance premiums. The citizens in Hernando County are honestly pursuing accountability for taxation from our elected officials this year. One suggestion that was floated several years ago was splitting the Hernando County Sheriff's Department into its own MSTU which was then estimated at approximately 3 mil rate. This suggested MSTU for the Sheriff's Office would have a separate line-item on property tax bills and could potentially lead to more accountability for increases/decreases for the Sheriff's budget at election time. Be advised though that this Sheriff's Department MSTU method could be a double-edged sword because the county commissioners would not be obligated to reduce their Ad Valorem rate equally with that of the projected Sheriff's Office (MSTU) and could potentially cause even higher property tax bills. The county commissioners have a state mandated 10 mil cap and the MSTU method(s) could be in an addition to that(the county commissioner 10 mil) cap. County commissioners would have to be fiscally prudent to tighten their belts, along with the rest of us in the private sector, to make this MSTU method work with a substantial millage tax reduction.