Pros, cons of becoming a city

By C.T. BOWEN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 27, 2003

In these days of the less-government, more-freedom mantra from the state and national political majority, a group of Wesley Chapel representatives is thinking more government, better control.

The group, as Times staff writer Jim Thorner reported, is exploring the idea of incorporating Wesley Chapel as Pasco's seventh municipal government. It would be the county's biggest and its wealthiest city, according to per-capita income, but void of an industrial base on its tax rolls and of a downtown core, at least initially, that gives most cities their identity.

The eight or so people have been meeting at 7 o'clock each Wednesday morning for the past few months after realizing that their Rotary Club and chamber of commerce chitchats routinely centered on traffic, planning, services and a shared realization that they would like a quicker response from Pasco County - their local government. Four days ago, they notified the county administration and state legislators of their intentions to formally study the idea and possibly ask the Legislature for a local bill and a voter referendum in 2004.

Coincidentally, the morning they met with County Administrator John Gallagher, newspaper accounts detailed woes facing current cities:

Dade City set its tentative property tax rate at the highest allowable by law as it tries to identify $1-million worth of new revenue or service cuts to balance its budget for the coming fiscal year;

New Port Richey is on a similar quest for $1.2-million, which could mean new fees or reduced services;

And in Port Richey, the city's financial picture has one of the city manager's formerly biggest boosters calling for a critical evaluation of his performance. Simultaneously, a group of citizens is promising a referendum to disband the city if the police department is cut.

So why, exactly, would anyone want to try to start a new city?

"There is a concern that maybe there has been less interest shown in this particular area by the county than we would like to see," said Dennis Smith, a resident of Meadow Pointe and a member of the Pasco Planning Commission.

"Could our quality of life be improved, or at least could our issues be addressed quicker? And that started discussions rolling," echoed Jim Williams, a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee reviewing the comprehensive land-use plan.

The issues include traffic along the Bruce B. Downs Boulevard corridor and the vicinity of State Road 54 and Curley Road; planning for growth; public safety and other government services; and even sign and landscape controls. There is a desire for a city center and a tax base that doesn't rely nearly exclusively on residential development.

The proposed 83-square-mile area, from the Hillsborough County line to midway between State Roads 54 and 52 and from Cypress Creek on the west to Morris Bridge Road on the east, would include a tax base that should offset the financial problems facing other Pasco cities, Smith said.

John Petty, a government consultant in Coral Springs whose firm helped Weston and Southwest Ranches incorporate as cities in Broward County, told me previously that he poses a four-question test to the idea of incorporating:

Does the area have a strong identity?

How much control does it want?

Is it prepared to self-govern?

Does it want to protect its quality of life?

Affirmative answers mean an area should consider incorporating.

For Wesley Chapel, even the first inquiry could be problematic. Within the proposed boundaries, Meadow Pointe, Saddlebrook, the Wiregrass Ranch, Quail Hollow and New River have their own identities. It includes Tampa bedroom communities where residents already pay Community Development District assessments for street lights and common areas, as well as rural outposts where unpaved roads, wells and septic tanks are considered acceptable and laissez faire is prevalent.

Costs, still unknown, are the largest consideration.

"Taxes will go up," predicted state Rep. Ken Littlefield, who probably would sponsor the bill in Tallahassee to create the city and who would reside in it if voters approved.

Cities rely on property taxes, franchise fees and taxes on utilities, state revenue sharing dollars and proceeds from the half-cent sales tax as their chief revenue sources. In Pasco, the cities' tax rates are assessed in addition to the county property tax rate.

To make the idea financially palatable, Pasco County would have to change its tax collection system. Pasco would need two property tax rates, a higher one assessed to all of the unincorporated areas in the county and a second, lower rate for the cities, which charge their own tax rates to provide police, fire and other services.

Don't count on that happening. County officials resisted similar pleas in the past from Pasco's other cities, arguing that city residents also use county roads, parks and other services.

Oddly, the incorporation movement comes as government services are improving in Wesley Chapel. A new fire station just opened in Meadow Pointe, the county purchased more than 100 acres for a regional park in Wesley Chapel, and a new library is scheduled to be built in the area.

Sure, services are on the upswing, said Williams, but it's better to debate the incorporation issue now, rather than 10 years down the road.

True. It's a fast-growing area that didn't even have its own chamber of commerce until five years ago but now faces the prospect of thousands of new homes, a potential retail mall and a professional tennis stadium within its boundaries.

"If we don't incorporate," asked Smith, "what do we see happening in the future, and can we live with that?"