Letter To The Editor: Pasco County Is Working To Bring Opportunities Home

The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners has been aggressively undertaking changes to make Pasco County more competitive in the region.  We have been working diligently to transform our County from a bedroom community, which is subject to severe economic distress based on housing values, to a community that is “open for business.” By focusing on economic development and job creation we hope to speed the recovery of our community and lower the unemployment rate. We are working on three major initiatives to stimulate job growth in Pasco County.

First, we have been working with the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and State Legislature to identify an Urban Service Area for Pasco County.  The Urban Service Area will include the western coastal area (west of Little Road) and the State Road 54/56 corridor from the coast to the Wesley Chapel (Wiregrass) area. Future growth will be targeted to this area to prevent sprawl, use existing infrastructure such as roads and water and sewer lines, and promote regional transit in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA). As an incentive to businesses that develop in the Urban Service Area, development fees and regulations will be reduced or eliminated, and development approvals will be expedited.

The second major initiative is to reduce impact fees paid by new development. The Board has already temporarily reduced fees for public facilities by 87 percent, since we do not have plans to construct new libraries, parks or fire stations in the immediate future. As you may be aware, we have decided to keep the school impact fees intact at this time, due to strong concerns about the future impacts on the District School Board budget from other funding sources. 

We are in the process of replacing our transportation impact fee with a reduced multi-modal mobility fee, which reduces residential fees by an average of 35 percent, with even greater discounts for residential development in the Urban Service Area, and for Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND).

We will be eliminating transportation fees for office and light industrial projects in the Urban Service Area, because these projects will attract high paying jobs and they use very little in services. We will also be eliminating our $3,147 per room transportation impact fee for hotels in the Urban Service Area, which should bring in more great commerce and help with our tourism industry.

We will be lowering transportation fees for retail projects.  Although in most instances retail projects will not bring in as many high paying jobs, they will contribute greatly to our economic base and are great sales tax generators. By lowering these fees and going to a mobility fee plan, we will make the County much more competitive.  The retail industry, which follows home building during good market conditions, is now going to be aggressively pursuing Pasco County, since the costs to enter our market have been significantly reduced. The mobility fee will substantially cut residential fees in the Urban Service Area by45 percent or more, which will make us much more competitive in the region, while still addressing our current and future transportation needs. 

Our third major focus is to aggressively recruit new business to Pasco County, in partnership with the Pasco Economic Development Council (PEDC). We have set aside funds for financial incentives to qualified businesses which create 10 or more new jobs above the median wage. We are working hard to create job growth and make changes to our development process to prove that Pasco County is “open for business.”

 The mobility fee changes, along with low property taxes and reasonably priced available land, make Pasco County a bargain compared to other counties in the region. Combine our reasonable cost of ownership with our fantastic quality of life (great schools, libraries, parks and green spaces along the Nature Coast) and Pasco County is extremely desirable and competitive.  

Your Board of County Commissioners is working together “Bringing Opportunities Home” to Pasco County.

Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano

District 5