Thursday, February 14, 2013
Expiration of the local tax could mean good news at the pumps, but don’t spend the extra cash just yet.
Westchase residents hoping to save a little at the pumps could get a reprieve if Hillsborough County’s 6-cent local option gas tax is allowed to expire Aug. 31. Don’t go spending the extra cash just yet though. If the county allows the tax to sunset this summer, it could deliver a financial blow of about $22 million to Hillsborough’s budget, officials say. The County Commission meets Feb. 14 in a workshop where it will hear preliminary budget figures for Fiscal Year 2014, which begins on Oct. 1, 2013. That 6-cent gas tax is used by the county to fund road maintenance projects and transportation operations. Without the revenue stream, the county’s anticipated $3.2 million budget deficit would likely grow to about $25.2 million, said Tom …
Hillsborough County Commissioners will receive preliminary figures for the county’s estimated $3 billion fiscal year 2014 budget during an upcoming workshop.
Westchase area residents looking for signs the local economy is improving might only need look to Hillsborough County for some encouragement. After facing losses that amounted to about $300 million over the last six years, Hillsborough County’s Budget Director Tom Fesler gets to present commissioners with some relatively good news Thursday, Feb. 14. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Fesler will provide commissioners with a preliminary budget analysis that spells out the county’s estimated revenues and expenses with a deficit that could prove to be as small as $3.2 million. Those projections are for the Fiscal Year 2014, which begins Oct. 1, 2013. (The analysis contains projections for fiscal years 2013-18.) There is a catch with the good …
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A public hearing to discuss amendments to Hillsborough County’s budget is set for Wednesday.
Now that the final numbers are in from 2011, the Hillsborough County Commission wants to revise its budget for the current fiscal year. Before it does so, however, the board wants to hear from Westchase residents about the proposed changes. The board will host a public meeting Feb. 8 at the County Center to discuss amendments to the Fiscal Year 2012 budget that reflect 2011 year-end balances. According to Tom Fesler, of the county’s Business and Support Services Department, the adjustments are routinely made at the start of the year to reflect final numbers from the previous year in funds set aside for ongoing, multiyear projects. It's basically a housecleaning project, he said. The amendments represent about $5.9 million and include such …
