Bat Tower, Millage Rate Up for City Council Discussion

The Temple Terrace City Council is scheduled to discuss the Bat Tower Reconstruction project and the city’s millage rate at its meeting Tuesday, July 16, among other items.

Since early June, the city has been working with the Temple Terrace Preservation Society to find sites suitable for a Bat Tower other than Riverhills Park. The park site, which was the favorite among the society and the council, received criticism from neighbors. The society withdrew its request to build the tower there on June 6.

More than a dozen alternate sites have been identified, according to a story on TBO.com. The council is expected to review the list and discuss the choices.

Following that discussion, the council is scheduled to talk about the millage rate for fiscal year 2013-14. The tentative millage rate they’re expected to set is 6.43 mills or 6.43 per $1,000 of taxable value, which is the same as the current rate. A homeowner whose house is worth $100,000, in theory, pays $643 in taxes.

Once the tentative rate is set, council members can choose to decrease the final rate, but they can’t choose to increase it. That means that Temple Terrace residents would pay no more in taxes next year than they are paying this year.

The Temple Terrace City Council meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall. It will be broadcast live on Verizon channel 39 and Bright House channel 950 and rebroadcast on Mondays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays and Fridays at 2 p.m.

Click here to see the entire meeting agenda.

• Preservation Society Withdraws Request to Build Bat Tower in Riverhills Park
• Council Approves 2012-13 Budget, Millage Rate