Mayors attend State of the Beaches panel to discuss property taxes, hurricane recovery

TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. - It was all about keeping the community informed at the fourth State of the Beaches panel.

What we know:

The event was organized by St. Petersburg College’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Pinellas Beaches Chamber.

"Education. That is always what I want," said Kimberly Jackson, the executive director for the institute of Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College. 

"And when we're doing this, being informed matters. How you come down after you understand the issues is your choice," she continued.

Local perspective:

The mayors agreed about property taxes, each expressing concern that abolishing them would harm small cities that rely on that funding source.

This comes as Governor Ron DeSantis proposed in the upcoming November ballot to eliminate property taxes, which have increased from $32 billion to $56 billion during his term.

City of Madeira Beach Mayor Anna-Marie Brooks said she had concerns about plans to largely eliminate property taxes.

"I think that looking at reforming the property tax where it's more on a level even playing field, I don't know the answer to it I just know that saying we're not going to pay property tax isn't an accurate statement, and it won't be well or good for the communities," Brooks said.

What they're saying:

However, Brooks said she is in support of helping the elderly with tax reforms.

"If you're 65 and over, you don't pay tax any longer," Brooks said. "I could actually get on board for that because as you retire, some of our local homeowners really struggle with paying their property tax because it is high."

Big picture view:

The other big issue that dominated the discussion was hurricanes. Participants discussed the topics of resiliency in beach neighborhoods, funding and ongoing recovery efforts.

"We still have a lot of rebuilding to do. I made the statement tonight that we had over 200 houses torn down," Brooks said. "We have 50-some houses being lifted. There's still a lot to be rebuilt. We still have some businesses that have not rebuilt."

Brooks said the majority of storm-damaged homes and businesses have been rebuilt, but there are still hurdles despite the efforts of local government employees.

"Some of them don't even know yet what they're going to do because they're waiting on Elevate Florida, or they're waiting on insurance, they're waiting on finding a builder," Brooks said. "How can they finance that? What does that look like?"

Some cities said they are using this rebuilding period to increase storm resiliency with sea walls to better fortify infrastructure.