City Leaders Divided; Tax Increase Appears Likely for Dunedin

Dunedin officials came up with an alternative to raising taxes for the first time in a decade.

And it looks a little like this: postpone any increase so Karen Feeney, Dunedin's new finance director, can have more time to familiarize herself with operations.

"This is a big pro for me," Feeney said of the secondary option during a city July 15 workshop. "It does allow me more time to become familiar with city operations. It allows us to analyze all these kind of things I listed as financial initiatives."

The original city budget plan attempts to solve a $1.3 million shortfall by raising the millage rate from 3.38 to 3.73 percent, still among the lowest in the county. It would cost the average homeowner an extra $55 a year, depending on property value, and add an estimated $595,000 to the general fund.

The second option, designed over the weekend, postpones the possibility and maintains the same level of services to residents for at least one more year, Feeney said. It's possible the rate would still need to be increased after that, she said.

The idea ignited passionate discourse and divided city leaders 3-2 in how the city's new finance direction should move forward with the budget for fiscal year 2014-2015.

Commissioners Ron Barnette, Julie Scales and Heather Gracy told Feeney they preferred "making the tough decision now," saying a modest increase in the millage rate is necessary to sustain Dunedin's superior level of recreational amenities.

"We're providing for our community something next to none in Pinellas County for almost, probably, the lowest millage rate in Pinellas County," Barnette said. "I don't want this to be forestalling of something we shouldn't put it off. Make the tough decisions now or make 'em later, but they've got to be made."

Scales sided with Barnette, saying she felt residents should "bite the bullet" so city officials can "get on a sustainable fiscal basis and not be in a crisis or not be in a mood of a crisis every fiscal year."

"I'm not the best person in math, but I believe, even with the proposed increase in millage, the rate is still 15 percent lower than it was 10 years ago," Scales said. 

Gracy said her "gut" was to go with Feeney's original, proposed "modest" rate increase, while also saying she wanted to hear more on the finance director's second option.

"More dialogue on this is needed and warranted," Gracy said, although in a preliminary vote Monday, the commissioner opted for moving ahead with the tax increase.

Mayor Dave Eggers and Vice Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski were in favor of Feeney's second option, saying the new finance director's original budget proposal contained a lot of changes from the way they're used to seeing it. They believed Feeney could present more creative financial solution for city residents' money if given a little more time.

"We've gone through the last two years, being told by our city manager and our previous finance director, 'You know we're not great, but we're really solid,'" Bujalski said. "And you go from hearing that for a good couple of years, to all of a sudden, 'We're hurting and we need a millage increase.' It's a little hard to wrap your hands around. ... We need to dialogue why those things are so dramatically different than what was supported previously."

"There are other ways to do this than what's been proposed, should you be provided with the time you need," Bujalski said. 

Eggers empathized with Dunedin residents who may be on a fixed income and suggested that waiting could be the answer. The downturn economy always has the chance of improving enough in another year, he said.

"I, frankly, look for excuses or reasons not to raise the millage as opposed to excuses or reasons to raise the millage," Eggers said. "I think we're fine." 

Previous Coverage:

• City Manager on $1.3M Shortfall: Increase Taxes
• City Finance Director Defends Tax Increase for Dunedin
• Should DFAC, Museum, Blatchley House Get City's Safety Funds?