Belleair Shore tax rate headed down

BELLEAIR SHORE – This town’s 60-some homeowners may pay the most in property taxes in Pinellas County, but they have the county’s lowest municipal tax rates, according to Mayor John Robertson.The Town Commission introduced a proposed 2007 budget July 19 that would be just $6,500 more than the town’s current budget, an 8 percent increase. But, Robertson explained, because of rising property values, the city can use a lower tax rate to collect enough money from property taxes to support the new budget.The proposed tax rate is less than 52 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.Last year the rate was 72 cents per $1,000. That’s about a 30 percent reduction in the rate, but homeowners’ tax bills may still go up because of their higher assessments and increases in county and school taxes.Robertson said his $89,600 budget for next year is “based only on what our needs are.”The budget includes a proposed $1,000 increase in what the town pays Belleair Beach for police service. Robertson, however, said he plans to meet with the city’s police chief to discuss whether the police officers could also be used to enforce Belleair Shore ordinances.Town Attorney John Elias had been asked to report on how the town could regulate short-term rentals and Commissioner John E. Hayes Jr. suggested the city adopt an ordinance regulating lights that endanger sea turtles along the town’s mile-long beachfront. Both would need an enforcement mechanism not currently available.Elias said that the county has adopted a code on short-term rentals but that it includes no means of enforcement. He said the town would have to adopt an ordinance and set up a means of adjudicating alleged violations.The town could use its police to issue citations, he explained, and have the cases tried in either county court, through a local code enforcement board or “special master” judge.According to the attorney, the city ordinance could mirror the restrictions in the county code. He said this would restrict rentals to no less than 30 days and no more than three leases per year on any property. All rentals would have to be registered, in advance, he added.Belleair Shore may have only one or two homes among its 60-some property owners that are leased, Commissioner Ray Piscitelli noted.Hayes suggested that landlords currently might not pay the appropriate sales and tourist taxes. He said the city should adopt a policy that anyone caught violating the new code be reported to the county Tax Collector’s Office.The commission directed Elias to draw up the rental code and Robertson said he would meet with Belleair Beach police to determine if they could respond to alleged code violations in Belleair Shore and take rental registration forms. He said they already do so within their own city.Elias also was directed to draw up an ordinance that would limit home lighting that shines on the beach that could prevent turtles from coming and going from their nests.Hayes said there were 105 turtle nests this year in Pinellas County and only eight of them were washed away by high water from Hurricane Alberto last month.“I’m pleased to report that the hatch was good,” he said. “One nest (in Belleair Shore) had 117 eggs hatched and all of them made it to water. It seems our beach is a favorite to the sea turtles.”