TRINITY, Fla. (WFTS) — Pasco County is continuing to take steps to ensure that Florida's Live Local Act does not have a negative impact on the community.
Officials are prepared to take action against two apartment complexes as they seek tax exemption under the act. Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein sent letters to the owners of The Gallery at Trinty and Tapestry Cypress Creek apartments, requesting that they do not apply for or withdraw their applications for the tax exemption.
ABC Action News reached out to the county about those letters. Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano explained further.
"We don't need them to apply for this. We don't think it's gonna help anything. But what it's gonna do is hurt our tax base," he said. "We don't feel it's a charitable cause, which is part of the reason that they think they can apply for it. But the way we interpret the law, it's not a purely charitable cause to profit company. It's not changing anything that they're doing already. It's not changing the rates that are people gonna pay for rents. So why should they get a charitable deduction. To me? It doesn't make sense."
According to the letters, if the tax exemptions were granted to the two properties, it's estimated that Pasco County would lose $38 million over the 35 years the exemption would be available. This would impede Pasco's ability to provide essential public services to the community, such as funding for sheriff's deputies, firefighters, and school teachers.
The letters claim that the Live Local Property Tax Exemption is unconstitutional, and they explain that the apartment complexes charge a cost for rent that is well above what the average sheriff's deputy, firefighter, or school teacher could afford.
"This program even lets an existing apartment complex was built within the last 5 years to apply to get this grant. Even if it doesn't mean they're actually cutting rents, they can still apply for the grant. This is what they call the missing middle. I'm gonna tell you it's a high line of the affordable housing of 80 to 120, I'm more focused on what's less than 80% to what's really affordable for our firefighters, teachers, nurses that can't afford these luxury apartments."
Pasco County has already approved several new apartment complexes that could be eligible for the tax exemption, which is just the beginning of the projected total loss.
Mariano says commissioners continue to work with state leaders to see some change in the law.
"We waited 'til the Senate past it yesterday to go forward. We wanted to give them time. We wanted to see what the last second changes might be. Maybe they're gonna make some adjustments that give us an opt out provision, or put these other conditions in that we're looking at. When that didn't happen, we just, we couldn't let it wait any longer. We don't feel, because our property appraiser needs to have this, as let's say, ammunition to say, 'Okay, I'm gonna wait till this gets resolved before I do any implementations of this tax break.'"
