City’s 2018 Budget Includes NT Rec Center Upgrade & More

Thousands are on waiting lists for the New Tampa Recreation Center’s dance, acrobatic and sports readiness programs, like the one pictured, a problem that could be alleviated with the $1.95 million dedicated to expansion in Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s proposed budget for 2017-18.

Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn has proposed a $972.4 million budget for fiscal year 2018 (which begins Oct. 1) that will result in some increased taxes, but it is a budget that also had some good news for local residents.

Buckhorn’s 2018 budget proposal includes money for a new fire station located off County Line Rd. near Grand Hampton, the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms, design funding for a future “sensory friendly” park behind the BJ’s Wholesale Club store in Tampa Palms and funds to improve both water pressure and code enforcement in the area.

“Overall, there are some good things in there for New Tampa, so I think we did well,’’ says Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, the Hunter’s Green resident who represents District 7, which includes New Tampa, Terrace Park, Forest Hills and the University area. “Not to say we worked hard for it…but we worked hard for it.”

Buckhorn’s budget proposes a property tax increase for the first time since 1989, as he is asking to raise the city’s millage rate 9/10ths of a percentage point from 5.7326 to 6.6326 (or $6.63 for every $1,000 of taxable property).

“The day of reckoning has come,” says Mayor Buckhorn, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative whose last term (due to term limits) as mayor ends in 2019, said. “I don’t like it any more than you do.”

For a home assessed at $168,829, which is the average in all of District 7, the property tax increase for homeowners will be $142.55 a year.

The increase for a home assessed at $261,500, which according to Zillow.com is the median home value for New Tampa, will be $235.35 a year, or $19.61 a month.

The property tax revenues are expected to produce $40 million in additional annual revenue for the city.

However, the city faces a $14-million shortfall this year and will have to soon start making $13-million-per-year debt payments on a 20-year-old public safety bond.

“Much of what we face today is not of our making,” Buckhorn says, “but the solutions will be.”

A ballot measure approved by the Florida Legislature, however, to increase homestead exemptions from $50,000 to $75,000 would reduce a property’s taxable value, saving the homeowner money but costing the city more than $5 million a year.

“In the 30 years I have been doing this (working in government), I have never seen the attack on local governments that I have seen this (legislative) session,” Buckhorn says. “This Legislature is hell-bent on doing whatever they can to limit local government and hamstringing us.”

However, without the millage rate increase, it is unlikely that all of the projects that will benefit New Tampa could go forward.

The proposed budget has $1.9 million earmarked for expanding the New Tampa Recreation Center, which is one of only two facilities in the city that is home to the highly touted dance, acrobatics and sports readiness program (the other is the Wayne Papy Athletic Center in Seminole Heights).

But, there currently is not enough room or staff to accommodate everyone.

The program at the NT Rec Center has grown from 59 participants in 2008 to more than 1,200 today, but that’s not even half of the people who want to participate — roughly 2,200 are on a waiting list.

This is the third time a budget proposal has had money in it for Rec Center expansion.

Last year’s budget had $3 million allocated to expansion, before it was amended and the money was redirected to fixing the Cuscaden Pool in Ybor City.

But, Viera said last year’s experience — which left a sour taste in the mouths of many in New Tampa — has created a new awareness of the budget process, emboldened by town halls he has been hosting as well as the recently formed New Tampa Council, which consists of representatives from most of New Tampa’s neighborhoods.

“New Tampa has got to lobby and push it through because you know what happened last year,’’ Viera said. “You have one vote with me, but you need four (of seven Council member votes).”

An additional $1.4 million of community investment taxes will be budgeted to complete the construction of Fire Station No. 23 (above), which will be located in the Grand Hampton/Grand Colony area off County Line Rd.

It will be the fourth fire station in the New Tampa area, along with fire stations 20 (on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Tampa Palms), 21 (just east of BBD on Cross Creek Blvd.) and 22 (on Cross Creek Blvd. between Cory Lake Isles and Morris Bridge Rd.).

“Public safety is issue no. 1 when you look at what government’s job is,’’ Viera says. “Just look at the city’s budget expenditures, where half of it ($243.7 million of $399.3 million) goes to police and fire.”

The station will house 39 firefighters (many of whom will come from the city’s proposed 48 new Fire Rescue personnel city-wide), an engine company, a truck company and a rescue unit.

The new station also will be home to a new District Fire Chief, who will coordinate responses between the other New Tampa fire stations.

The addition of Fire Station No. 23 is seen as an important safety measure in a sprawling area that is still growing and still lacks easy emergency access to many of the communities. It also will take some of the pressure off the other locations.

A fifth Fire Station, No. 24, was announced last year for the K-Bar Ranch area, but won’t be built until at least 2021.

The proposed 2018 budge also includes $90,000 for a study and design of a “sensory-friendly” park on the land behind BJs, which will be developed in conjunction with the University of South Florida (See story, right).

The budget proposal by Buckhorn was met with approval by members of the New Tampa Council, which Viera formed to help lobby the city on the needs of the New Tampa community.

New Tampa Council members Maggie Wilson, Warren Dixon, Brian Koerber and Tracy Falkowitz, all Tampa Palms residents, attended the budget presentation with Viera.

The city will hold a pair of public hearings on the proposed budget and tax rate on Weds., Sept. 13 & 26, at 5:01 p.m., in the City Council chambers on the third floor of Old City Hall at 315 E. Kennedy Blvd.

Rotary Casino Night!

Although I am now a member of the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, the Wesley Chapel (Noon) Rotary Club that I previously belonged to (and which now meets Wednesdays at noon at Lexington Oaks Golf Club) contacted me (on deadline, of course. lol) to try to help the club promote its upcoming Casino Night fund raiser, which will be held on Friday, August 25, 7 p.m.-10 p.m., at Wesley Chapel Nissan (8519 S.R. 54).

The event is for such an amazing cause, I couldn’t let it go by without a mention here. All proceeds from the Casino Night will be donated to benefit the family of 16-month-old Clayton Mahler, who has been diagnosed with an unidentified Stage 3 pediatric cancer. Clayton’s father, Rob Mahler, is a former Hudson High football coach and eleven local high school teams (including Wiregrass Ranch High) will participate in a preseason jamboree on Thursday, August 12, at Springstead High, with all proceeds also benefiting the Mahler family.

If you enjoy a little gambling for great prizes, a $20 donation gets you $20 in chips and there will be free food, a cash bar, and a silent auction and of course, the spirit of Rotary.

For more information about the Rotary Casino Night, visit WCRotary.com or visit one of the club’s Wednesday meetings. For more about the “Preseason Clash for Clayton,” visit SpringsteadAthletics.com.

School Grades For 2016-17 For Wesley Chapel’s Schools


School grades have been announced for the 2016-17 school year and, of the 12 public schools located in Wesley Chapel, all either maintained their grades from the 2015-16 school year, or went up by at least one letter grade.

Letter grades are assigned by the State of Florida Department of Education (DoE), based on statewide standardized assessments. High schools also have a graduation component, based on how many students graduate in four years. The letter grades then reflect the percentage of points received, of the total number of available points.

The biggest jump in local school grades was at Quail Hollow Elementary (QHE). For the 2016-17 school year, QHE received an “A” from the DoE, a big boost from the C it received last year, in 2015-16.  Prior to that, the school had been closed for two years for remodeling.

But, QHE isn’t the only school that improved. Veterans and Seven Oaks elementaries both improved from B to A, while Watergrass Elementary improved from C to B.

For the other elementary schools, Sand Pine and Wesley Chapel both maintained their A ratings, while Double Branch maintained its B. Wiregrass Elementary received its first-ever grade since it opened last fall, a B.

Wesley Chapel High (WCH) raised its grade back up to a B again after last year’s grade dipped to a C for the first time in the school’s history.

“I was ecstatic,” says Carin Hetzler-Nettles, who was the principal at WCH until she was named principal of the new Cypress Creek Middle High School in January. “It’s fun to see that grade improve, and it’s exciting for the community, staff and kids at the school.”

The other Wesley Chapel high school, Wiregrass Ranch (WRH), maintained the B rating it had last year.

Dr. John Long Middle School maintained its A from the previous year, and Weightman Middle School kept its B.

While the school grading system has many critics, the grades are widely used by parents as a measure of how well their child’s school is performing.

Hetzler-Nettles is among many who say that school grades are just one of many factors to be considered when attempting to measure a school’s performance. This is partly because a different group of students is tested each year.

“In high school, tenth grade is our heavy testing year,” she says. “Next year, we’ll test a completely different group of tenth grade students. There is a human factor.”

And, she says, the specific criteria that make up the school’s grade also are different from year to year.

“There are always things that change,” says Hetzler-Nettles. “The grading changes every year at the state level, and then we tend to see trends. This year, it seems like the schools are on an upswing.”

3D Wellness Pharmacy In The Freedom Plaza Offers A New Dimension Of Care!

Pharmacy assistant Danielle Malone (left) and Doctor of Pharmacy Ngozi Benyard invite you to discover the third dimension in health care at 3D Wellness Pharmacy on S.R. 54.

On a recent Thursday afternoon, Ngozi Benyard, PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy), was working behind the counter at 3D Wellness Pharmacy, when she looked up and saw a car pulling into the parking lot outside.

“I think Mr. Santacruz is here,” she called to her assistant, Danielle Malone. “Can you please bring me his medications?”

Sure enough, a few moments later, José Santacruz walked into the pharmacy, and Ngozi had his medications waiting for him.

“She takes an interest in me,” José says of his pharmacist. “They’re so friendly, and the service is more personalized than at other pharmacies.”

That’s what Ngozi says is the “third dimension in care” referred to in the name of the pharmacy she opened in the Freedom Plaza on S.R. 54 (next to Bosco’s Italian-To-Go), about a mile east of Saddlebrook, in November of last year. Ngozi says that third dimension is two-fold. First, it’s the above-and-beyond level of service you can expect if you get your medications there. (It’s pretty much guaranteed that the pharmacist at the local big box retailer isn’t looking out the window, awaiting your arrival.) And, she adds, it’s the role that the pharmacist plays in your health care.

“There’s you, your doctor, and the pharmacist,” Ngozi says. “The pharmacist is an integral part of that triad. You might see several doctors, and the pharmacist sees all of the medications that all of your doctors prescribe.”

Ngozi earned her PharmD degree from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee in 2004. She worked at Tampa General Hospital, and then was the lead pharmacist specializing in infectious diseases — for the entire Central Florida region — for a major retail chain. She and her husband, Jamel, who is a U.S. Navy veteran, are the owners of 3D Wellness Pharmacy.

“Moving up the corporate ladder takes you away from what you learned in school,” says Ngozi. “With my patients now, I know all about them. I know when they go to the hospital and I know what pains them.”

Ngozi can compound your medications at 3D Wellness Pharmacy.

She explains that some pharmacies – especially big chains — often don’t have time to counsel and truly care for their patients. If their queue gets too long, they will hear from their district manager that they’re not fast enough. Ngozi says all that matters at the chain stores is the bottom line.

“Here, we treat you like a patient, not a number,” she says. “We’re your local neighborhood pharmacy, where you can get all of your medications, including compounded medications, and that extra dimension of care.”

She says that also includes holistic care, such as vitamins and supplements for overall wellness. “Certain medications deplete nutrients,” she says, “so I’ll suggest a vitamin. For arthritis, I’ll recommend cherry juice or capsules. For high blood pressure, apple cider vinegar.”

Rxight Genetic Testing

Beyond what you would typically expect from a pharmacy, Ngozi offers additional services to help her patients and give them options they might not have even known were available to them.

She says she is the only pharmacist in Wesley Chapel and surrounding areas that is certified and trained to offer the Rxight (pronounced “Right”) pharmacogenetic test.

“The Rxight test is precision medical test,” explains Ngozi. “It tests more than 200 medications and tells us if your body metabolizes them too fast, which means you’re not getting the efficacy of your medications, or if it’s not metabolizing properly, which is when the medicine accumulates and you get side effects.”

She says that adverse reactions to medicine is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., so getting the proper medications and doses is extremely important, and can sometimes even be lifesaving.

So that we could see exactly how it works, Ngozi offered the Rxight test to Rita McLaughlin, my mother-in-law, who is a great candidate for it because she regularly takes several medications.

Rita stopped in for a quick cheek swab, and the swabs were sent to a lab. About two weeks later, Ngozi received a report and went over the results with Rita.

“It was amazing,” Rita said. “It was a lot more information than I thought it would be. It assured me that the medications I’m taking now are the right ones, and in the right dosages.”

Rita says she found the results to be trustworthy, because they lined up with the experiences she has had with her medications.

“For example, with my cholesterol medication, I had quite a time getting the right one,” she says. “One gave me side effects, another worked, but then my doctor changed the dose and it worked better.”

The medicine she finally ended up with is what the test revealed she should take. That confirmation, along with other information she felt correlated to her experiences, made Rita believe the Rxight test was worthwhile.

“For the future, if I ever need a blood thinner, the results say there are two medications I shouldn’t take,” Rita says. “I would absolutely abide by that.”

As a final step in the process, Rita will be given a wallet-sized card that outlines exactly what she should and should not take, and which doses, to be able to present to a hospital or doctor in time of need. In addition, she has the option to share the report with all of her doctors.

The test is somewhat expensive, at $399, but because it is based on genetics, it is a one-time test that gives results for the rest of your life. It can allow someone to skip over the back-and-forth of trying different medications and different doses to go straight to what medication will be mostly likely to work for them.

“This test is especially great for kids with ADHD,” says Ngozi. “Instead of trying one med that makes them sleepy, and then another where they don’t sleep at all, and then another to wait and see what happens, you can just do this test. Then, your kid isn’t used like a guinea pig to try a whole bunch of different medications.”

She says parents will know definitively what medications will work best for their child with no side effects.

Another great example, she says, is for people who get a blood clot and are put on a blood thinner. Will it work? “You could get another clot in the time it takes to figure out if you’re on the right dose of the right medicine,” Ngozi says. “With this test, you don’t have to guess.”

Ngozi personally goes over the results with each patient, so all of your questions are answered, and she’s able to help you manage your medications with the information from the test.

Women’s Health

“We have a focus on women,” says Ngozi, “and we’re especially passionate about new moms.”

Both Ngozi and Danielle are moms to two boys, and both are advocates of breastfeeding.

“Times have changed for breastfeeding moms,” Ngozi says. “Pumps are now covered by insurance, and they are so much more comfortable than they used to be.”

Renting a pump from 3D Wellness Pharmacy includes shipping or delivery and, perhaps the most important thing a new mom needs, encouragement from both Ngozi and Danielle.

The pharmacy also offers a libido enhancement for women that Ngozi calls “scream cream.”

“We hear all about enhancements for men, but why should we be left out?” Ngozi asks. “We often provide (scream cream) for women with fertility issues. You have to have a prescription from your doctor, but you can ask us about it and we can give you the information to discuss with your doctor.”

While it’s not proprietary, Ngozi says that she won’t publicly reveal exactly what’s in the “scream cream.”

“I’m known for compounding it and I’m good at it,” she says with a smile. “We want to be a place where women can come in, see familiar faces, and feel comfortable asking questions.”

While Danielle is new to the pharmacy, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 2003, where she was a pre-med major, from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, and is excited to be helping Ngozi — and the patients — at 3D Wellness Pharmacy.

“Wellness is very intentionally a part of our name and our logo,” explains Danielle. “We want to help you get well and stay well.”

3D Wellness Pharmacy is open Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and will ship or deliver medications. For more information, visit 3DWellnessPharmacy.com, or call (813) 428-6000.

County Commissioners Prepared To Vote For Impact Fee Increase This Month

New schools like Cypress Creek Middle High School will help alleviate school overcrowding in Pasco, but an increase in school impact fees has to be approved by Pasco’s County Commissioners to build 4-5 more new schools.

After months of meetings and workshops, Pasco County’s School District and Board of County Commissioners (BCC) appear ready to seal a deal with the Tampa Bay Builders Association (TBBA) which would raise impact fees on new homes in Pasco to help build new schools.

The deal to phase in an impact fee increase of roughly $3,500 per home over three years was forged a day before a public hearing was held on July 13 regarding the issue. While signaling strong support for the increase, the commissioners ended up being unable to vote on the ordinance because it had changed significantly from what was originally advertised.

The vote will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Every commissioner signaled support for the increase at the July 13 meeting.

“This gets us in the right direction,’’ said District 5 commissioner Jack Mariano.

“We’ve come to a great agreement here,” said District 4 commissioner Mike Wells. “We haven’t had an increase in the impact fee since 2007. To give the school board 92 percent of what they asked for is strong.”

Wells added, “it’s time to stop kicking the can down the road.”

Pasco Superintendent of Schools Kurt Browning was seeking to increase the current impact fee of $4,876 for a single-family home to $9,028, or an 85 percent increase. That increase, it said, would help fund the construction of five new schools.

The TBBA was hoping to keep the increase at no higher than $7,176, or a 48-percent raise.

Pasco County chief assistant attorney David Goldstein said the county and TBBA worked through the weekend to get a deal done. The biggest battle, he said, was determining what was a fair increase for both sides.

“To me, a reasonable fee is when both sides have to give up a little bit,” Goldstein said. “I’m not going to tell you that either one is (completely) happy with this compromise we have reached. They both gave up a little bit, and neither is entirely thrilled.”

The school district got 92 percent of what it was hoping for, but it will be phased in over three years. The school district will get 79 percent of the amount requested ($2,252) on Jan. 1, 2018, with a $600 increase each year on Jan. 1 of 2019 and 2020, bringing the total to $3,452.

The new fee will help raise more than $200-million over the next decade for school construction, which will build 4-5 schools.

“It’s a number I feel comfortable with,’’ said District 1 County Commissioner Ron Oakley, who represents part of Wesley Chapel.  in District 1. “It’s not too high or too low…you can’t have a better thing than education for your kids.”

District 3 commissioner Kathryn Starkey was part of the School Board in 2008 when she sent a letter to then-BCC chair Ann Hildebrand requesting approval of a 2007 Impact Fee Study to raise the fee to $8,983. The BCC never took up the study.

“This may not get them where they need to be, but it gets them close,’’ Starkey said. “I’m supporting the 92 percent.”

Mark Spada, president of the TBBA, said his organization was incurring significant increases that make the impact fees, “among the highest in Florida and the nation.”

Spada says while he recognizes the building industry is part of the solution, he also suggested the school district look for additional revenues, or consider selling some of the 20 school sites he claims Pasco owns to help pay for new schools. Deputy superintendent Ray Gadd disputed Spada’s numbers, saying the county currently only owns nine school sites outright.

Pasco has struggled for years with overcrowded schools, and few areas have felt the pinch more than Wesley Chapel.

Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) has been on a 10-period schedule for the last two years, and while the new school boundaries were drawn late last year will alleviate some of that overcrowding, the school still has no room. The newest school set to open next month, Cypress Creek Middle High, will do so as both a middle and high school, with 1,900 students combined.

By its second year, Cypress Creek could already be at capacity.

Everyone who spoke at the public hearing was in favor of the impact fee increase. Most, in fact, urged the BCC to vote for the full increase originally asked for by the school district.

“We’re asking you to please fully fund our schools,’’ said county PTA president Denise Nicholas. “Our children need these schools. They are overcrowded. It is absolutely unacceptable… please vote for our kids.”

Doug Wood, a Wiregrass Ranch High parent, urged the BCC to “pass the full impact fee that was asked by the school system; why should the burden fall on our kids?”

Wood said an extra $10,000 to buy a house wouldn’t deter him as long as the money was going to help build schools. Others worried the higher fee would just be passed on to homebuyers, citing how the same villa in the new Estancia at Wiregrass Ranch development that was $320,000 last year already now sells for $370,000.

“Home prices in Pasco County are up 10-15 percent,’’ said Trinity’s Heidi Janshon. “That’s awesome, but not awesome when we need to fund our schools. I’m asking you to vote for the full amount….I reiterate, please fund us.”