Pinellas considers special taxing districts for poor neighborhoods
Encouraged by nascent plans for a special taxing district south of downtown St. Petersburg, the Pinellas County Commission is considering using the same method of stoking development in four other low-income areas of the county.
East Tarpon Springs, North Greenwood, Highpoint, parts of Lealman, and neighborhoods south and west of downtown St. Petersburg have all been identified in a county report as trouble spots. Poverty rates are high in these areas, foreclosures are common, and what’s potentially more troubling: These low-income neighborhoods are growing.