DADE CITY — Pasco County Commissioner Ron Oakley grew up in the Dade City area, and for years, if a road was getting paved, there would be an assessment for people living in that neighborhood.
But a majority would have to agree to pay it.
“It actually pitted neighbors against neighbors because some wanted to pay and some did not. And if 51% of the vote said we are not paving it didn’t get paved,” Oakley said.
Oakley says the system goes back to when Pasco’s east side was orange groves while the west side was full of development.
But as Pasco County has grown, leaders decided it was time to change the system.
The new countywide road tax was passed Tuesday night and will add a tax for property owners of about $65 based on the median home price of $160,000.
“It’s very fair to everybody. But everybody will pay just a little bit to get all the roads in Pasco that need to get paved over a period of time in Pasco and kept up from this point on,” said Oakley.
Not everyone is for the new plan.
The County’s Facebook post about the changes included one woman saying “we are all going to be charged extra for people that chose to not buy on a paved road. Shame on our administration.”
Another post suggested passing the cost “solely to all the new developments.”
County leaders say they will start by paving the roads with the greatest need and work their way down the list. The work should ramp up starting next month.
They expect to be able to repave about 75 miles of road a year.
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone obtained the most recent batch of Florida teacher exit interviews which detail, in their own words, why teachers left the classroom this summer.
