Lutz News-Lutz/Odessa-August 17, 2016

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Homeowners to see dip in school taxes By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com

The Pasco County School Board has given first-round approval to a proposed $1.2 billion budget that includes a slightly lower tax bill for homeowners. Under the proposed rate, the owner of a $125,000 home, after deducting the homestead exemption, would pay $677.30 in taxes. That’s $33.60 lower than the homeowner paid last year. School board members voted unanimously for the proposed budget, but won’t take final action on the proposed rate until a second and final hearing, set for 6 p.m., on Sept. 13.That hearing will be in the School Board Meeting Room, at 7227 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., in Land O’ Lakes.

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Wiregrass Elementary School opened for the first time on Aug. 15.

While the budget has received firstround approval, school board members Steve Luikart and Alison Crumbley said

there need to be some changes. “It is a work in progress,” Luikart said. “We’re identifying some of the areas that we have needs in,” he said, noting he was in a meeting with district staff to discuss how to move some funding to provide additional support for some of the district’s lowerfunctioning schools. The district also needs to take action to address its graduation rate, which slipped, Luikart said. “Those are two priorities,” he said.“We’ve got to do whatever it is that we have to change.” It could mean adding more staff or providing some new curriculum to address the needs, he said. See TAXES, page 11A

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Ed McKinney, district planning and environmental administrator for District 7 of the Florida Department of Transportation, explains why express lanes are needed to relieve regional congestion.

Tampa Bay Express aims to address region’s congestion By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com

The proposed $3.3 billion Tampa Bay Express project has its critics – especially in areas near downtown Tampa, but it’s a project that’s needed to help relieve regional congestion, according to Ed McKinney, district planning and environmental administrator for District 7 of the Florida Department of Transportation. “Currently,Tampa/St. Pete ranks seventh in the country for cities of its size for conLK/LZ

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gestion,” McKinney said. “I don’t have to tell you all, if you’ve driven around the area, we’ve got a lot of congestion, and that hurts us in a lot of ways,” McKinney said, during a recent luncheon meeting of the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce. “It hurts us when it comes to attracting new businesses. It hurts us mostly when it comes to attracting new residents,” he said. People moving into the area want to know that they’ll be able to get to work or wherever they need to go, without being

stuck in traffic for a half-hour, he said. The problem is only going to get worse, as the region’s population increases and more jobs are created, he added. “In Pasco County, population is expected to grow 97 percent by 2040,” he said. Hillsborough County is expected to grow by 48 percent, and Polk County by 41 percent during the same period. “Pasco County is expected to grow employment by 200 percent, and that’s huge,” he said.Those workers won’t all be coming from Pasco County, he said.They’ll be heading to Pasco from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, too. “People are going to go where the jobs are. That’s what we’re seeing,” McKinney said. See EXPRESS, page 11A

Rezoning approved for 320 new homes By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com

Homes by WestBay plans to build up to 320 single-family homes on a large swath of wooded land off Henley Road in Lutz. The Pasco County Commission approved a rezoning for the project on Aug. 9 The 175-acre site is east of Long Lake Ranch, a master-planned community off State Road 54. The newly approved residential project includes extending a one-lane stretch of Leonard Road, at its intersection with Henley, northward to connect to State Road 54. During construction, truck traffic is scheduled to cut through Long Lake via Sunlake Boulevard, Long Lake Boulevard and Brevia Drive. Initially, about 120 homes will be built. Some Long Lake residents expressed concerns about the construction route. Long Lake resident Bill Cullen said he doesn’t oppose the rezoning, but he provided documents with more 70 signatures calling for an alternate construction route. “There are a lot of children in this community,” Cullen said. Residents are frequently out walking to the swimming pool, along trails or to other

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Homes by WestBay wants to build 320 homes on land off Henley Road. A dead-end section of Leonard Road would be extended to State Road 54.

amenities within Long Lake, he said. Trucks also would have to maneuver through two roundabouts, another resident said. By the end of the public hearing on the rezoning, a developer’s representative said Henley Road could be added as a truck route. Leonard Road residents also voiced objections, based on concerns about traffic

from the new subdivision and potential flooding. Seeking to improve safety, residents have lobbied for years to get sidewalks built along the two-lane winding road, between U.S. 41 and State Road 54. John Foster presented county commissioners with letters and emails from about See HOMES, page 11A


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