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Roundtable Discusses Growth, Tax Vote

Tribune photo by ROBERT BURKE

County Commissioner Al Higgenbotham discusses the county budget at a Jan. 29 meeting of the SouthShore Roundtable.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

RUSKIN - County Commissioner Al Higginbotham spent about an hour Friday with members of the South Shore Roundtable answering questions about regional planning, county spending and the upcoming vote on property taxes.

Stressing the importance of people getting on the same page, Higginbotham said to the crowd of about two dozen at the Ruskin Community Service center that he remains committed to responsible growth management and vowed to be "adamant on stakeholder participation."

In response to a question by Dave Moore of Sun City Center about the Jan. 29 referendum on property taxes and how the county planned to respond within the next five years, should it pass, Higginbotham said he has determined that $20 million in cost savings could be trimmed from the county's annual budget through what he called "efficiencies."

"We have to run our government budget just like we do our own budgets," he said, adding he plans to vote "yes" on the referendum.

"If it's defeated, it will send the wrong message to the Legislature. If it passes, then we can go back and seek improvement. Otherwise, it will be business as usual," he said.

Lois Kindle

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