Street Lighting Fee Will Continue

For the second consecutive year, Safety Harbor residents will be charged a street lighting services and facilities fee.

The $50.97 annual fee will be applied to property owners in Safety Harbor at a monthly rate of $4.25.

City manager Matthew Spoor said the fee would remain the same throughout the duration of the five-year plan, which was originally approved in December 2012.

Commissioners approved the fee rate Monday 4-1 with commissioner Nancy Besore as the vote against the fee.

“The annual rate remains the same for all five years,” Spoor said. “However, the monthly rate the residents will see on their bill will go down” in 2014 because residents will be paying the fee over 12 months in 2014 instead of nine months as they did in 2013.

According to city documents, "the city commission decided to initiate a street lighting assessment program to offset the roughly $300,000 annual cost to provide street lights to property owners in Safety Harbor.”

Safety Harbor residents, what do you think of the streetlight fee? Let us know in the comments below.