City Manager on $1.3M Shortfall: Increase Taxes

Should Dunedin leaders consider raising taxes for the first time in a decade or cut public services? 

Just two years after lowering taxes, City Manager Rob DiSpirito is posing that question to leaders, while at the same time requesting a pay increase for Dunedin employees.

DiSpirito believes city leaders should approve the city's first tax increase since 2003, saying it would help alleviate a $1.3 million shortfall in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2014 to 2015, he wrote in a June 20 memo to the finance board.

The increase would mean an average $55 a year contribution from each Dunedin household that would generate $595,000 annually, he says.

If city leaders opt not to raise taxes (in the form of a millage rate increase from 3.38 percent to 3.73), the next option is cutting $500,000 in public services or dipping into reserves, DiSpirito says.

"My staff and I do not recommend either of these approaches," he writes. "The first option reduces value to the public and ratchets down potential future rates. The second option is not sustainable, and will result in even larger fiscal problems in FY2015."

DiSpirito is also asking leaders for a 2 percent raise for city employees. Last year, employees received a 1 percent pay increase.

Here is a snapshot of some other changes DiSpirito is proposing this year:

• Contributing financially to partnerships with Visit Dunedin, Chamber of Commerce and Dunedin Downtown Merchants Association to assist them in promoting and marketing Dunedin.
  
• Adding a parks service worker to help maintain Dunedin parks and facilities (budget neutral).
  
• Designating Dunedin TV as an actual city department (budget neutral).
• Re-activating the assistant city manager position (budget neutral).
• Keeping aid amounts to organizations the same (Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin Historical Museum and Neighborly Care Network).
• Keeping water, wastewater, solid waste and storm water rates the same.
• Lifting the moratorium on replacing city vehicles.
• A reduction in rent for Pinellas County Sheriff's Office's use at North District Station.

• Monday, July 8 
• Wednesday, July 10
• Monday, July 15