Florence council members question why Anthem must pay for streetlights
by Mark Cowling | Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune
Some Town Council members are asking why they must pay a special property tax to fund their neighborhood streetlights, while residents in older parts of town do not.
What is normally a routine annual council meeting to give final approval to various tax rates turned into a debate Monday on the fairness of Streetlight Improvement Districts (SLIDs). Florence’s SLIDs haven’t collected any money in recent years. A 12-cent tax rate in SLID 3 for the new fiscal year was approved by a vote of 4-2, with Vice Mayor John Anderson and Councilwoman Kristen Larsen voting no. Mayor Tara Walter was absent.
Anderson asked if the council had the authority to revoke a SLID. Town Attorney Clifford Mattice replied that town code requires a SLID in new development, and “off the top of my head” he couldn’t say what it would take to revoke it. Town Manager Brent Billingsley said there appears to be that ability under state law, but that doesn’t address the town’s agreements with developers and its own development code.
