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Pasco property tax rates holding steady By Kathy Steele ksteele@lakerlutznews.com
Property tax rates won’t go up in fiscal year 2017, though a more robust trend in property values could bring a slight boost in property taxes for some homeowners. At a final hearing on Sept. 27, Pasco County commissioners approved a $1.3 billion operating budget that includes increases for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and 16 new business initiatives that give residents more services. The fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The final budget is about $80 million less than what was proposed in July, partly due
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to accounting adjustments in how unspent funds for capital projects are counted. Tax rates remain the same as last year.A homeowner will be assessed about $7.61 for each $1,000 in property value for the Mike Fasano county’s general fund, and about $1.81 per $1,000 for the fire district. However, as the economy has improved, property values in the past year have increased.Tax bills also could tick up slightly.
On average, county officials anticipate an additional $6.89 on a tax bill for a home valued at about $106,000. “Hopefully, most citizens are going to see some reductions in their taxes,” said Pasco County Commissioner Ted Schrader. A request weeks earlier from Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano resulted in a one-time allocation of $100,000 to the elderly nutrition program. The money will be held in a reserve account while county staff members provide details on how the money will be spent. Fasano told county commissioners he wantSee TAX, page 13A
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Get all your favorite local news stories online. COURTESY OF PASCO-HERNANDO STATE COLLEGE
From left, Pasco-Hernando State College Trustees Ardian Zika, Morris Porton, and Marilyn Pearson-Adams, former Speaker of the House Will Weatherford, PHSC President Tim Beard, PHSC trustee Robin Schneider and PHSC Board Chair Ed Blommel.
Weatherford makes PHSC’s hall of fame By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
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Will Weatherford, the former Speaker of the House of the Florida Legislature, was inducted into Pasco-Hernando State College’s Legislative Hall of Fame on Sept. 20. The ceremony was at the state college’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel, 2727 Mansfield Blvd., according to a news release from the college. Ed Blommel, chairman of PHSC’s District Board of Trustees, officiated over the ceremony, which included the unveiling of a plaque to be displayed in perpetuity in the Legislative Hall of Fame.
Weatherford received an identical plaque. “We recognize Will Weatherford, who has proved to be an unwavering champion for PHSC,” Blommel said, according to the release. “Speaker Weatherford assisted the college in getting the funding for the construction of the beautiful Porter Campus ($52.2 million), including fighting off a veto and legislative resistance to get the final installment after construction was underway and nearly complete,” he added. Timothy Beard, the college’s president, also recognized the former speaker’s efforts to provide equity in funding for the Florida College System, leading to a $7.7 million funding increase for the college and for securing more
support for PHSC from the State Board of Education. A number of special guests were at the event, including Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Florida College System Chancellor Madeline Pumariega, Rep. Danny Burgess, Pasco County Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning, Pasco County School Board Member Alan Altman, Bill and J.D. Porter and Quinn PorterMiller. Weatherford’s induction makes him the second member of the Legislative Hall of Fame, which is a new tradition at PHSC.The honor recognizes legislators for supporting the college and higher education opportunities for their constituents. Sen. Jack Latvala, who was inducted in July, was the first to receive the honor. Weatherford and Latvala are both members of the inaugural class of 2016.
School shooting threats now a felony charge By Kevin Weiss kweiss@lakerlutznews.com
The consequences just got tougher for Florida students who threaten to shoot up a school. The Anti-Terroristic Threat and Public Servant Protection Law.The law, which went into effect Oct. 1, makes false reports about using firearms in a violent manner a seconddegree felony. Bomb threats have carried a second-degree felony, but only charges of “disrupting a school function”—a seconddegree misdemeanor — could have been brought against someone making a gun threat. The law also makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to threaten with death or serious harm a law enforcement officer, state attorney or assistant state attorney, firefighter, judge, elected official or any of their family members. In the Pasco County School District, there already have been three incidents of students making gun threats through the first six weeks of the 2016-2017 school year. Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning described such threats — regardless of the degree of seriousness — as being “incredibly disruptive” to the community. “When someone makes what they con-
KEVIN WEISS/STAFF PHOTO
Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning address the new Anti-Terroristic Threat Law during a Sept. 30 press conference. The law, which took effect Oct. 1, makes false reports about using firearms in a violent manner a second-degree felony.
sider a joke to shoot up the school, people panic,” Browning said during a Sept. 30 press conference. “I’ve pleaded with students, and I’ve asked their parents to plead with them, to think before posting an idle threat on social media, or to make any kind of verbal threat to carry out a shooting at any of our schools.” He added:“When kids and their parents see these things, the fears spread quickly.” Such threats, Browning said, often cause Pasco schools to become “half-empty” the following day. “Students and parents are not going to take any chances when they hear rumors or see the posts on social media,” the superin-
tendent said. “It means that students who do show up are not going to learn much that day. It means that some teachers may decide not to teach the lesson that they had planned, because half the class will miss it,” Browning said. Ava Cahoon, a junior at Land O’ Lakes High, said fellow classmates oftentimes become “very scared” when they hear such threats. “We have to go into lockdown, and we don’t learn at all,” Cahoon said.“We have to sit in the dark, and the teachers don’t get to See SHOOTING, page 13A