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Pembroke Pines needs to trim more from budget(South Florida Sun-Sentinel (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 3--PEMBROKE PINES City revenue would decrease by 30 percent in the new fiscal year, but it is unclear how deeply services would be cut under the $322 million budget proposed by City Manager Charles F. Dodge. The plan so far would leave 141 jobs vacant, eliminate employee training and delay maintenance of vehicles and property. But Dodge said he needs to trim another $5 million and that's where the painful decisions could come. They could include scaling back on park hours, raising fees for city services and eliminating the Police Department's popular mounted patrol. Dodge on Wednesday will present city commissioners a list of options for cutting. The presentation will come at an informal discussion at 4 p.m. in City Hall, 10100 Pines Blvd. It will be followed by a 7 p.m. town hall meeting for residents to ask questions of Mayor Frank Ortis and commissioners. Under the budget proposal, unveiled on Wednesday night, spending will drop to $285 million from $489 million. The property tax rate, meanwhile, will go down 72 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, to $3.88 from $4.60, for each home and condo. That means the owner of a home valued at $275,000 this year and taking the now-standard $25,000 homestead exemption would pay the city $1,001. Property owners also will pay two other fees. Neither is restricted by the state's new tax law. One is for the repayment of the city's $100 million public improvement bond issue. The proposed fee is 47 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or $117.50 on a $275,000 house with homestead exemption. That compares to last year's 26 cents, or $65 on a house with the same assessment. Also, owners of residential and commercial property pay the fire protection fee. From the time it was adopted 10 years ago until the past year it was $74.98 for each house and condo, with commercial property based on square feet. The fee raised about $8 million and paid half the cost of protection. Dodge has proposed nearly doubling the fire fee to $157.16 for residences, with a similar increase for commercial property. It would bring another $8.8 million and pay for about 96 percent of the cost of fire protection. The 30 percent revenue decrease is largely due to the city not taking money from previous bond issues. Dodge said last year, the city took $147.6 million from its outstanding bond issues, including the $100 million issue voters approved two years ago and the $29 million issue commissioners approved last year for affordable senior apartments. The city won't need to take more money from bond issues during the coming year. The state requires two public hearings on the tax and spending plans, and those are set for 6 p.m. on Sept. 14 and 26. Dodge said his new budget proposal was the most difficult to prepare in his 18 years as city manager because the state ordered cities to reduce taxes. As the cost of living increases, he said, so does the cost of delivering services. Joe Kollin can be reached at 954-385-7913 or [email protected]. To see more of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com/. Copyright (c) 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |